


Trapped

by leoraine



Category: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Genre: Case Fic, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Suspense, Thriller
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-02-12
Updated: 2011-02-12
Packaged: 2017-10-15 14:43:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 37,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/161849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leoraine/pseuds/leoraine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Someone's playing a game of revenge and the team must do everything not to fail, because the price is their own lives.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Beta-reader: Sabrina

"There should be a turn to the left somewhere ," Nick said, sceptically looking at the map while Grissom drove them out of town.

"I didn´t know there were some buildings out there," Nick noted as Grissom slowed down, not wanting to miss the road. They were going to the desert, away from Henderson and Lake Meadow. Nick couldn´t imagine who would want to build a company out there.

"Maybe they don´t want attention," Sara spoke from the back seat.

Nick turned from the map and looked at her curiously.

"What?" she asked, seeing the smirk on his face.

"You know we´re heading away from Nellis, right?" Nick asked in serious tone. The AirForce base located near Vegas brought many speculations, mostly from the fans of UFO and paranormal activity. There were hotels for people who came just to "watch" the sky. "No little green men, remember?"

"And I thought you were watching only Animal planet. Obviously, you got hooked on the X-Files too," she bit back.

"This has nothing to do with army, does it?" Sara asked and Grissom let out a sigh. Having those two in the car was like having two kids - the sooner they arrived at the place, the less bickering.

xxxx

Nick Stokes climbed out of the car and pulled the jacket closer to his body. It wasn´t the coldest season yet, but the night desert air could be chilling. He was hoping for a quiet night, having to pull a double shift already. He was in the lab with Greg, listening to his newest find and wondering how could a guy like Greg have so long a list of potential girlfriends, when Grissom told him to get his kit and a map.

That was almost an hour ago.

Now they were standing before an ugly one story object that was embedded in darkness. The only light came from the moon and from the police cruiser parked before the entry. There were also two other cars - one undoubtably belonging to Jim Brass, the other was a white Nissan and Nick figured it belonged to the victim. Nick wondered about the fact there was no one guarding the gate, although there was a booth. Before the fence were several signs warning trespassors that the fence was under high voltage, but right now everything looked abandonned.

Grissom was already heading toward the building when a faintly familiar figure stepped out of the door and waved at them. Nick turned on his flashlight, wondering if perhaps there was no electricity at all.

"Damn it Nick, turn it away," Jim Brass shouted as the light hit him in the face and Nick offered a short apology before moving his flashlight so it now shined at the building instead of the agitated detective.

"What´ve we got, Jim?" Grissom asked, straight as ever. He wasn´t in a good mood, partially because he had to listen to Nick and Sara the whole ride there, partially because of a growing headache. He hoped it wouldn´t turn into the migraine from hell.

"Grissom," Brass acknowledged his presence, waiting for Sara to reach them. "I am afraid it´s a little complicated."

"You mentioned a male d.b. I believe we´re in the right place?" Grissom felt he was maybe a little too sarcastic, but Brass didn´t comment on it, instead he pointed toward the door.

"Follow me inside, I´ll tell you what I know."

Nick raised his eyebrows and looked at Sara, confused by the crispness in Grissom´s voice. Sara only shrugged, unaware of the problem.

"I got a call from dispatch. Someone reported a dead male in the building of Faston Research Institute. I called you before I arrived here, so sorry for any inconveniences. We didn´t find a body, but I think this is good enough reason for you to come."

As Brass talked, he led them through a narrow corridor into a big hall. Nick and Sara were pointing their flashlights around, trying to find anything that would justify the call. The walls were bare as was the floor. No carpets, but also no dust. The hall was spacious but empty as well. There was an admission desk with security glass and as Nick moved the flashlight, he spotted a camera: Curious, he turned around and shined the light to the other corners, only to find more watchful eyes.

"Closed circuit TV," Nick muttered but no one paid him attention. Both Grissom and Sara were shining their lights at the bloody puddle on the other side of the admission desk. As Nick walked up to them, he saw the the splatters of blood on the wood and the nearest wall. There were smears of it on the floor, leading out of the hall and deeper into the building.

"Someone left a trail," Grissom commented, eyeing the puddle of blood.

"Maybe our body wasn´t as dead as it looked?" Nick asked, looking at Brass for some kind of explanation.

"I doubt anyone would lose this much blood then walk away on his own two legs."

"He didn´t," Grissom spoke and pointed the light several feets away. There were several bloody footsteps and two long smears, as if someone was dragged. Several yards away the smears stopped and there were only the footsteps and drops of blood.

"Whew. Looks like there were at least two people. Now why would anyone take the body and leave the blood?" Sara asked, shaking her head.

"Most importantly - why would anyone take the body inside the building when outside is a car?" Nick corrected her question, looking at Brass.

"The car was there when we arrived. The hood was cold so I assume it was there for a while. Nothing inside, the trunk is clean, too. No blood."

"Who does it belong to?"

"It´s registered under the JetRo Security Agency in Henderson. They´re the ones responsible for this facility I called them and they told me there were two agents on the night shift assigned here. But we didn´t find anyone."

"Could be one of them was... killed... and the other called it in?"

"Then what? Panicked, took the body and hid it somewhere in the building? " Brass shook his head. "Maybe the killer was still there and got also the other guard."

"In that case, he´s probably still here," Sara assumed and they all jumped when one of the cops chose that moment to appear. He stopped dead in his track, seeing the gun poised his way.

"Shit, Kevin, give some warning!" Brass cursed and shook his head, letting out a heavy breath. The young uniformed cop gulped, then nodded.

"I-I found some plans of the building in the security room. There are also several monitors, but they´re blank. No power."

"Good. Give us the plans," Brass looked around and frowned. "Where´s Jenkins?"

"He was looking for the generator-"

"Damn it, I told you not to separate. What the hell is wrong with you?" Brass barked, earning several surprised glances from the CSI´s. He knew he was acting weird but he didn´t care. He just had a really bad day and to make matters worse he had to deal with two greenhorns.

"I am sorry sir," Kevin stuttered, ashamed by the dressing down as well as angry at himself for acting so recklessly. He knew the detective was in a bad mood and he should´ve been more careful, but he just felt excited by the prospect of working on a real murder. Now he could only hope to make things better before they returned to the station and Brass could tell his captain about his screw ups. "I´ll bring him back."

"Not alone! We probably have a killer running wild in the building, I don´t want anyone left alone. Nick, can you go with him?"

Nick blinked, surprised by the request. He threw a quick glance at Grissom and seeing him approve, he nodded.

"Be careful," Grissom said to Nick, then turned back to the scene.

As the two men walked away, Brass let out a sigh and shook his head, frustrated by his own actions.

"I am sorry," he said, "Don´t know what´s the matter... I just have this strange feeling we should be careful."

"You´re probably right," Grissom agreed, frowning. He didn´t felt very cheery when they left the lab earlier, but he sure as hell wasn´t this irritated. Maybe it had more to do with this case than with Nick and Sara bickering.

"Tell me the rest, Jim. Do you know who called it in?"

"Now I'm sure it was one of the security guards, but he didn´t give a name."

"So how can you be so sure?" Sara asked, trying to sound as normal as she could, though she felt a little angry at Brass for the earlier outburst. She almost cringed when she saw the guilt in Kevin´s face after Brass shouted at him.

"Because the call was made from here," Brass replied, looking at the addmission desk and searching for a place that wasn´t covered with blood. Finding one, he unfolded the plan Kevin gave him. Grissom walked up behind him and shone the light so they could get a better look.

"So by this plan, there are just offices on the first floor. We are in the lobby. There should be a hallway, several rooms, a cleaning closet. The staircase is to the right from the bathrooms and oh see... there are two more floors underground. Probably the laboratories."

"Is there any other exit?" Sara leaned closer to the plan, frowning. "I can´t see it. That´s weird. I thought they´re supposed to have a fire escape."

"Maybe there is something, but the plan is already five years old," Brass sighed.

"Why is it empty anyway?"

"All I know is that the company moved out of Nevada. They were doing some research in gene engineering. This facility was sold two months ago to a Japanese company. From what the guy from the security agency told me, they´re planning to move in the next month."

This time both Kevin and Nick made enough noise to warn the others of their approach, not wanting a repeat of Brass´ pulling the gun on them. The detective looked at the three men, not letting on the slight relief he felt at seeing Jenkins with them.

"Jenkins?"

"I´m sorry, detective. I was able to locate the generator but I couldn´t turn it on, nor could I find anything wrong with it."

"Did it look like someone tampered with it?"

"I can´t tell, detective," Jenkins looked really sorry and Brass let him off the hook, concentrating on the more pressing matters.

"Well, we´ve got six people to search the whole building, with no power while the killer could be still here. It doesn´t look good."

"Is the coroner coming in?" Nick asked, hiding the slight shiver that ran through his body at the mention of the killer.

"No. I was about to call him when we arrived but then thought it would wait until we find a body. For now, we´re all there is," Brass clearly didn´t like the fact.

"Well, we can call some backup, but Warrick and Catherine are already on their way. Think we will manage until then?" Sara looked questioningly at Grissom, then at Brass. She was suddenly glad that Grissom didn´t turn down Catherine´s offer of help when she called in that they finally closed the case she and Warrick were working on for the last three days.

"They should be here within half an hour," Grissom nodded.

"Well then, what about we start to search this place?" Brass suggested, feeling both impatient and nervous. Grissom eyed him for a second then nodded, turning to his team.

"Nick, you´re coming with me. Sara, you should stay here and process the scene. Jim-"

"Hey, why should I stay?" Sara protested.

"Because I need you there," Grissom replied, looking at her pointedly and Sara swallowed another protest.

"Jim?"

"Jenkins, you´ll stay there and make sure nothing happens to her. Anything suspicious, you call me, or shoot. Kevin, you´re coming with me." The rookie gulped, trotting after the detective nervously. Nick grinned at Sara trying to cheer her up, knowing well enough she was feeling left out. She just rolled her eyes and turned away from them. "Men," she mumbled and knelt down next to the puddle of blood, pulling out the camera. She tuned out the voices and concentrated on her work, taking in every detail.

xxxxx

The dark room was lit only with the shining monitors. The man sat comfortably in his chair, following each step of the six people that invaded his place. He couldn´t help but grin as he saw the group separate.

"Ah, my friend, you´re making it even easier for me," the man sneered with fake pity, before he stood from the chair and leaned over the keyboard, his delicate fingers quickly hitting each key with care.

When the monitor beeped, the man turned and walked out of the room, leaving the computer on, the timer on the monitor counting down the remaining minutes.

xxxXXXxxx

"Do you think it´s a good idea to split up?" Nick asked in hushed voice as his eyes followed the retreating form of Jim Brass and the rookie Kevin. He was starting to feel the growing tension and didn´t wanted to anger Grissom, but he didn´t felt really comfortable with them separating. Something just made his stomach shrink and he didn´t like it.

"We need to search the place. I am sure Brass is quite capable of taking care of himself," Grissom replied, not really paying attention to Nick. He was trying to follow the trail but he couldn´t seem to find it.

"Nick," he growled and Nick turned to him, eyes wide. Grissom barely stopped the sigh escaping his throat when he realized he had startled him.

"Huh? Sorry," Nick apologized, feeling like an idiot. He was starting to act worse than the rookie.

"You see any trail? Blood drops?" Grissom paused, frowning. Nick scanned the hallway but couldn´t see any blood.

"Weird," he mumbled. "Nobody stops bleeding just like that."

"Not even a dead body," Grissom added.

"You think someone cleaned it up?"

"Why leaving the mess in the hall?" Grissom objected.

"Maybe he didn´t had time for that. He heard the cars approaching and get himself scarce," Nick mused, but looking at Grissom he saw the man´s eyebrows rose in doubt, though Grissom never voiced it. Instead he shined the flashlight to the end of the hall.

"This should lead to the stairs." Grissom´s voice softened and Nick nodded his understanding as he saw him pull out his gun. He followed his example, and they both approached the door in silence. Once there, Grissom took a look at the knob, unconsciously searching for bloodied handprints. He found none.

"I´ll open it slow," Grissom whispered and was satisfied when Nick assumed position, both the flashlight and the gun poised at the door. As Nick nodded, Grissom reached for the knob, slowly turning it. He pushed the door open and Nick scanned the staircase, feeling his heart beating hard in his chest.

"It´s clear," he said, keeping his voice low and stepped in.

xxxx

Kevin swallowed another curse as he realised his mistake. He was on the force for two years, still driving the streets in the police cruiser, still considered to be a rookie. He hated it. Not the work, just the funny looks he got from his family every time he woke up and prepared for work. From the people in the neighborhood, who all knew he could´ve been a lawyer or a doctor, whatever he wanted, because his family had enough money to pay for school and Kevin wasn´t stupid. But maybe he was, taking instead this job where you could beso easily killed.

Today he got a chance to go on a real case. Not chasing after some little thief who pick-pocketed some older lady. But to see how the real detectives work. He practically begged Jenkins to reply to the dispatch call and he felt almost ecstatic when he saw Jim Brass climbing out of his car. The man was a legend, and a confirmation thathe would indeed be part of an investigation.

But the body was missing. And he started making stupid mistakes. Like the one with leaving Jenkins alone. Or the last one, when he stumbled and knocked into Brass. The man growled and shot him an angry look. Kevin felt like crying, and not for the first - or the last - time this day, he cursed his own eagerness. He just wasn´t ready.

"Kevin!" Brass hissed, trying to gain the kid´s attention without being too loud. He cursed, seeing the startled look on Kevin´s face and knew part of it was there thanks to him. But hell, they weren´t in kindergarten and he didn´t have time or patience to train rookies. He couldn´t treat anyone with kid gloves and he sure as hell won´t start now.

"I-it´s clear," Kevin stuttered as he checked behind another box.

Brass gave a curt nod and walked ahead. He wasn´t comfortable with Kevin guarding his back, but it was still better than let the kid go first and see a bullet pierce through his body. Brass saw enough of that to last for a lifetime.

"That plan was old," Brass muttered, securing another corner. "This part of the building wasn´t even mentioned in it."

It was a surprise to the detective. After they separated from Grissom and Nick, they headed to the left, looking through the rest of the rooms. They were already by the elevators when Brass spotted another door. It wasn´t on the plan, he was sure of it.

When he and Kevin walked in, guns poised and ready to use, Brass let out a sigh. They were in a storage room. A really big, fully packed storage room. He just couldn´t believe that something like that wasn´t in the plan. He started to doubt if the plan wasn´t there to confuse them. Seeing as everything turned to be different from what they anticipated, Brass started thinking if this wasn´tjust some kind of hoax. Maybe they should´ve tested the blood to see if it wasn´t animal.

Then he shook his head. No, there was still the car and two missing guards. So as they searched through the big storage room full of crates still smelling from animals that resided in them at some point, and dusty boxes behind which could lurk a whole army, Brass prepared himself for trouble.

xxxx

"I could use some light," Sara muttered, flicking her eyes at Jenkins while she crouched next to one of the bloody footsteps. She put a yellow L-shaped photo scale next to it and picked up the camera.

"I´m sorry, but I couldn´t find anything wrong with the generator," Jenkins said defiantly, while Sara took the shots. The photography flash illuminated the place in almost ghostly quality and Jenkins started blinking, trying to clear his vision. The sudden darkness after Sara finished was a welcome relief for his eyes, though he still saw several white spots in the line of his vision.

"Well, something is wrong if it doesn´t work," Sara said and reached for her kit. She already made a sketch of the scene, took samples of the blood from several places, photographed it. Now it was time to take some fingerprints. "Maybe you could take another look at the generator?"

"Oh, no, I don´t think so. I am sorry Ms. Sidle but detective Brass was clear enough. I am not to leave you alone, under any circumstances. I´d like to keep my job a little while longer."

Sara grinned.

"So Detective Brass is in a bad mood tonight, huh?" she stated the obvious and got a flashing grin from Jenkins.

"Well, I would be angry too if I was called out on my way home."

"So he´s pulling a double?" Sara frowned. "Why didn´t they send another detective?"

Jenkins only shrugged.

"Guess it was bad luck."

Sara nodded. She would be just as angry to get called out from home to a case that was turning to be much more complicated than it looked at first sight.

"Well, can you give me a hand? I need you to keep the flashlight shining there." When Jenkins took it, she pulled out the brush and started the meticulous job of looking for the fingerprints on the admission desk.

xxxx

The monitor blinked as the timer counted down the last minute. The room was dark and empty, the only movement on the screens across the wall, showing the offices, hallways and laboratories. One of the cameras was pointed right at the admission desk in the lobby, showing the two people quietly working over the pool of blood. If someone would´ve walked into the room and looked at the screen, he would surely spot the third figure lurking in the shadows, waiting. And the seconds ticked off.

xxxx

"Here´s a good one," Sara mumbled, taking down the tape with the print.

"You really like your job, don´t you?" Jenkins asked, fascinated by Sara. "I saw you guys working on several crime scenes," he added as Sara looked at him with raised eyebrows. She almost chuckled as Jenkins tried to clear his throat and turned in embarrasment. He wasn´t a bad looking man, had a good figure too, but he definitely wasn´t her type.

"Yeah, it has its good moments," she replied, trying to sound normal. If she´d thought about it, she would´ve said something else. Maybe something like - I love this job because I can help put bad guys behind bars. Or clear an innocent suspect. The evidence had big power over peoples' lives. But in the end she would probably agree with the simple fact that she liked her job.

Jenkins let a small smile slip on his face, but it quickly changed into grimace when the sharp light hit his eyes.

Sara gasped as the lights came on and stabbed her sight, eyes already used to the darkness. The sudden change startled her and she could hear Jenkins utter a curse as his hands shot up to shield his eyes. Sara copied his motion.

"Seems that the guys found the problem," she hissed, blinking.

"But damn, they could´ve warned us," Jenkins replied annoyed.

Sara only smirked in reply, inwardly agreeing with the cop. It took them several minutes to adjust so that the light didn´t hurt their eyes. Sara stood up and turned, looking for the first time through the hall. Try as she might, there was nothing more to see - at least not from the place she was standing. Picking up her kit, she moved toward the hallway where the trail vanished, but she was stopped quickly by the hand on her arm.

"What?" she snapped and Jenkins recoiled, but didn´t let go of her arm.

"Where are you going?"

"Just want to take a better look. Why?"

"Shouldn´t go anywhere alone," he reminded her and she let out a sigh.

"So then come with me," Sara looked at Jenkins pointedly and he let go of her arm.

"Just for the record, I don´t like this." And he didn´t. He knew well enough where the generator was and there was no way Brass or Kevin could get there, not to mention the two CSI´s. And if they didn´t repair the generator, then who did?

Sara must´ve come to the same conclusion, because she abruptly stopped.

"Where is the generator?" she asked, her voice suddenly low.

"This way," Jenkins nodded toward the security room. "There´s a small corridor, on the end is the generator."

Without more words, they turned and headed towards it. They made it as far as the security room, when the lights went out, leaving them in total darkness. Sara instinctively grabbed for the flashlight, but she had left it by the desk.

"What the-" she heard Jenkins and spun around, reaching for her gun as something heavy fell to the floor with a resounding thump.

"Jenkins?" she called out, the gun already in her hand, but she didn´t see, didn´t know who´s where. She still made a move to the left, not wanting to be in the same position.

There was no reply. Only someone breathing not far from her. Sara´s own breath got caught as she considered what to do. In an instant, she bolted and made a run for the hallway, towards Brass and the others. But she wasn´t fast enough. A hand grabbed her waist and stopped her, almost sending them both sprawling on the ground. Sara, on the verge of panic now, started kicking and fighting.

"Let go - of me!" she gasped and tried to use her elbow, but her attacker took it without as much as a grunt of pain. He only let out a strangled laugh, which scared Sara more than anything else.

"Help!" she yelled and the man stopped laughing. It was enough he had bruises over his whole body from Sara fighting, he wouldn´t let her yell. With a swift move, he grabbed her neck, pulling her so close to him that she could smell the peppermint in his breath.

"Stop it or I will kill you," the voice was soft and it made it even more threatening. Sara felt the cold pressure of the gun on the back of her neck and she instantly went still.

"That´s it. No reason to fight. I won´t hurt you, not unless you give me a reason. Now be a good girl and join me in the theatre. I´m sure you´ll enjoy the program."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta-reader: Sabrina

It was no good to fight, but Sara was far from giving up. She let herself be led away, but her mind was still trying to realize just what was going on.

Her captor was strong and whatever move they were taught in thr courses of self-defense, he knew them all. There was no way she could win in a straight fight with him and come away from it unscathed. She could only hope her friends would find her in time.

At that, her thoughts turned to Jenkins. Now she knew it was his body falling on the floor that made the noise, but she still didn´t know if the man was alive.

"D-did you kill him?" she stuttered, more from the grip on her neck than from fear. The man gave her a nasty grin, then reminded her to be silent with a nudge from the gun. Sara gritted her teeth and tried to calm down. She didn´t know the building, but she was sure they were going through the hall. She frantically looked around, realizing that Brass and Kevin should be still there, looking for the body or the killer. Well, she had the killer just fine, and if Jenkins didn´t survive, they had also the body. Sara shivered at the thought and her captor chuckled.

"It won´t help you even if you scream. Your friends won´t hear you. And if so, well... they´re safely tucked away, looking for me."

Something in the voice made her flinch. Was it the coldness or the unspoken threat?

"W-what do you want from me?" she asked despite the previous warnings, but this time the captor didn´t reprimand her. He simply didn´t reply.

They arrived to the elevators and Sara was surprised to find them working despite the electricity outage. She was pulled inside one of the smaller cars, and pushed against the wall. She felt the car moving down, heard it announce that they were on the second floor in the laboratories. Then she was unceremoniously hauled out of the elevator.

Sara was trying hard to distinguish her surroundings, but everything was black. The man didn´t had a flashlight and she was starting to get dizzy from the pace he chose and from the constant turning around the corners. It looked like he was trying to make her lose orientation as much as possible and Sara almost chuckled. She was having trouble staying upright, let alone knowing where they had come from or where they were going.

Finally satisfied, the man turned the last corner and stopped. He silently fumbledwith something in his pocket and Sara tensed. Should she make a move? Or was it too big a risk? The man obviously knew the building from top to bottom He had no trouble orienting himself in the blackness. But Sara had trouble with the simple act of standing straight and not bumping into a wall. She wouldn´t stand a chance. But she had to try.

"I wouldn´t do it," the man spoke all of a sudden, stopping his fumbling and tightening his grasp around her body. "If you run, you´ll get hurt."

"Why? Why are you doing this?" she asked and was angry hearing her own voice tremble.

The man snorted and opened the door, pushing them both inside. The door clamped shut and Sara heard a click that made it clear they were locked in.

She didn´t had time to ask another question. The man forced her down to the chair and grabbed for some tape that was ready on the desk, probably put there just for this purpose.

With swift but precise moves, the man tied both her hands to the chair, then proceeded to do the same to her legs. When he finished, he stood and looked at Sara with a glint in his eyes that she didn´t like. She opened her mouth to ask what was he doing when he leaned over her and taped her mouth shut.

Sara´s eyes went wide, first from fear, but it quickly changed into anger. Somehow, making her shut up was far worse than taking her hostage. It was an insult she wasn´t likely to forget. Though her captor didn´t seem to mind it a bit as he turned his back on her and made himself comfortable behind the keyboard.

Taking as deep a breath as she was able to, Sara finally took a good look around. The room really wasn´t big, maybe 12 square feet total. Most of the place was taken up by the equipment on the wall. She counted at least ten monitors and two computers. Then there was the small table in the corner with a coffee pot and a little refrigerator. She also noticed another door. Seeing the universal sign on it, though, she came to the conclusion it ledto the bathroom. She would´ve liked to take a better look around, but the room was fairly dark and she also couldn´t look behind her back. So for the time being, she settled for watching her captor.

It was an older man, in around his fifties. She didn´t see much detail of his face and he was turned away from her, facing the monitors. Feeling safe for the moment, realizing that the man had momentarily lost interest in her, she straightened her neck so she could see what he was watching.

At first she blinked, not really understanding what was happening on the screens. Then her eyes widened and she could hear the man´s crazy giggles. Suddenly he started typing on the keyboard and the images stopped.

"Oh, perhaps I shall rewind the tape and look at what happened to the others while we were otherwise occupied?" He pushed the button and the images changed, replaying the events of the last few minutes and as Sara watched, her hands clenched into fists while her eyes teared up with fear for her friends.

xxxx

The doors on the first floor weren´t equipped with a simple locking mechanism. There was a slot for the ID card right beneath the handle, but there was no power and when Nick pulled at the handle, the door slid open easily. No ID, no password and Nick grinned slightly. At least something was good about that power outage, he thought as Grissom followed him to the office. They were on the first floor, checking out the offices. Even in the light of the flashlight they were able to see that the hall was empty. No bloody trail, no body laying across the floor.

Maybe it should´ve been encouraging, but it wasn´t. Sometimes it was easier to just deal with the scene. The simple act of searching brought on much more risks - even more when the killer was possibly still in the building.

Before stepping through the door, Grissom checked out the nameplate still apparent on the door. It read that the office belonged to one Dr. Jaroshi, specialist in Genetics. Grissom wondered if it was one of the new employees or the old ones.

It didn´t came as a surprise that they found the room empty. Turning around with the flashlight in one hand, the other still grippingthe gun, Grissom had to admit there was not much to look at.

He pointedly looked at Nick and nodded toward the doors. Even though they didn´t find any evidence that the killer was still in the building, they needed to be careful and both men fell into silence. It almost become a routineto check out the rooms - Nick came to the door and put his hand on the handle, and Grissom was covering him from the other side, while Nick pushed the door open and quickly looked it over with a flashlight. It was more a jobfor cops than for criminalists and Grissom started wondering if this wasn´t some kind of a joke.

The hall was silent as they proceeded through it. They could already see the elevators at the end of the corridor.

Another room, another door. Nick´s hand froze in the air, then shot up to shade his eyes. The light came on abruptly, blinding him.

"I could´ve used a little warning," Nick muttered. White spots danced all around his vision but he was quickly recovering. He looked at Grissom who was squinting, a frown already apparent on his face.

"Grissom?" Nick asked with concern.

"Jenkins said he couldn´t repair the generator and Brass wasn´t going that way. So how is that we have power?"

"Maybe Sara took a look?" Nick offered, but Grissom´s raised eyebrows was all that he needed to dismiss that idea.

"Don´t know then. Maybe the problem was somewhere else, not in the generator."

Finding that as a plausible answer, Grissom nodded. Finally able to see without squinting, he turned around. As far as he could tell, the hall was clear. Maybe they were only wasting time, but they still needed to check out the whole floor.

As if in silent understanding, Nick turned back to the door he was about to open before the lights came on. It was different from the others, there was no nameplate, and also there was no window on it like with the previous ones so they couldn´t see inside.

Nick´s hand reached for the handle, expecting to feel the cold steel under his fingers. Instead he felt a hot burning. It gripped his arm and enveloped his body in white flaring pain. He couldn´t scream, he couldn´t breath, couldn´t think. It could be a second or a year, it didn´t matter. One second he was standing, the other he was flying through the air as his body was thrown away. He lost consciousness before he connected with the floor.

xxxx

Jim Brass once again cursed the lights that went berserk. It was bad enough that they turned on whenever they wanted, but now they were blinking in a crazy rhythmthat made his head hurt.

At first he thought maybe Jenkins repaired the generator. But now he wasn´t so sure of it. They were already at the other end of the storage room that was now positively empty and he was about to turn and walk out, when the lights came to. Brass and Kevin exchanged surprised glances, then headed for the exit, when they were once again surrounded by darkness.

Brass automatically stopped but his younger charge wasn´t so smart and he stumbled into the first pile of boxes that came his way. Brass cringed as he heard them crash down and only waited for the chain reaction, internally preparing to skin the young rookie. He was all too aware of the liability of boxes and crates piled up in the room.

To his surprise, there was no other crash following and he let out a sigh.

"Kevin?" his voice was all but a growl. He knew the rookie must´ve been scared but he never anticipated the shriek.

"Oh shit!" the boy yelled and scrambled to his legs as fast as he could, with some of the boxes lying on top of him.

"What the hell´s wrong?" Brass asked, shining the flashlight on Kevin. All he could see were the crates and Kevin´s form covered in dust and dirt. Brass almost laughed at the scared look on Kevin´s face. That is, until he saw the trail of blood on Kevin´s shirt. And on his hair.

"Are you hurt?"

Kevin simply shook his head and pointed toward the mess that was on the floor.

"N-no, not me. But that guy looks bad..."

"More like dead," Brass muttered as he saw the bloodied body of one of the security guards. Brass didn´t feel the need to kneel down and check for the pulse, the widely open eyes staring vacantly at him were enough evidence the man wasn´t alive.

"Congratulations," Brass spoke to Kevin, his voice all but cheery, "you just found your first body."

Kevin shot him a pained look, before getting on his feet and hastily stumbling away. A second later Brass could hear him retching.

Shaking his head, the detective pulled out his cell phone and dialed Grissom´s number. But there was no dialtone. Brass looked at the phone and frowned.

"No signal?" he asked, incredulous.

"Kevin, get your ass back here and get me Jenkins on the radio!"

The rookie walked back, the embarrassment all but forgotten. He was trying in vain to get through to Jenkins, but there was no reply. Brass was waiting impatiently and Kevin mustered the courage to speak.

"I am sorry, detective. But he isn't responding."

And as if that weren´t enough, the lights started blinking.

xxxXXXxxx

When Nick touched the handle, he knew something was wrong. He felt the power running through him with painful clarity. He wanted to scream, to pull away, but his fingers didn´t listen. They curled around the handle, gripped by the current and Nick´s whole body was held firmly in the deadly trap.

Grissom realized what´s going on in the moment Nick´s body jerked and he acted on instinct. He knew every second counted, as well as he knew that there was no way to turn off the power. Touching Nick was a risk he couldn´t take, but looking around, he didn´t saw anything he could use to pull the CSI away. He took a deep breath and without another thought of the danger, he threw himself at Nick.

Grissom felt the electricity run through him the same moment he connected with Nick, but it didn´t last as his momentum carried both of them toward the floor, Nick´s deathly grip on the handle broken.

The fall wasn´t gentle. Grissom felt the impact as he landed on his once dislocated shoulder. He gasped in pain and for a minute could only stare at the ceiling. Then, even that wasn´t afforded him. The light went out as suddenly as it came on, leaving them in utter darkness. But at least it was a catalyst. Grissom jerked, pulled out of his stupor, and moved as quickly as he could. He grabbed the still shining flashlight and knelt next to Nick.

He shone the light at the CSI´s ashen face at the same time reaching for the carotid on Nick´s neck. Nervously repositioning the fingers when he couldn´t feel the beat, Grissom swallowed. There was nothing.

His hands trailed down to Nick´s sides at the level of the lowest ribs, waiting for a movement, but Grissom already knew there wouldn´t be one. Without as much as a pause, he put the flashlight away and started CPR. Placing his hand on Nick´s chest, he made sure the bottom of his palm was located two fingerbreadths below the sternum, then covered it by the second palm and pressed directly down. He repeated the movement fifteen times, then quickly moved to the head and two times breathed out air into Nick´s mouth. He then returned to chest compressions, repeating the action every fifteen seconds.

During all this, he couldn´t stop thinking that this just couldn´t happen. That he should call for help, that they wouldneed much more than just basic CPR to save Nick. But he couldn´t lose time trying to locate the cell and fumble with the tiny buttons, even though he knew how time was of the essence in cases like this.

His shoulder throbbed mercifully by the time he leaned over Nick to breath some air into his lungs, when he stopped. Head low above Nick´s mouth, he listened and this time prayed that it wasn´t just his hearing going wild. But no, he could hear the soft hiss and as he watched, he saw Nick´s chest rise.

With a trembling hand, he reached to check for a pulse and couldn´t stop a gasp when he found it. Grissom waited, making sure it wasn´t just his senses playing with him, then uttered a not very Grissom like expletive and took several deep breaths to try and calm his own heart.

"You´re alive," he mumbled and reached for his phone. It was time to call for help.

xxxx

Warrick angrilly shut the cell and glared at Catherine.

"I can´t reach any of them!"

"You tried Brass?" Catherine asked, getting a bit nervous herself. They were standing before the big steel gate with a security booth and fence all around. The gate was supposed to be open, but it wasn´t. They also couldn´t get anyone to answer their cells and it made them fairly suspicious.

"I tried everyone, Cath! Nick, Grissom, Brass... even Sara damn it. The operator stated they´re all out of reach. Which doesn´t make sense."

"Maybe the building is protected from any signals?" even saying that, Catherine looked dubious.

"It´s still weird. The gate should´ve been open. And dispatch hasn´t heard from any one of them for quite a time." Warrick moved to the car and without warning blared the horn. Catherine jerked but didn´t comment. She knew Warrick wasn´t very pleased by her offer to drive out and help the guys, but the night was calm and they just finished a case that took them most of the last week. What she hadn´t told him was about the nervous feeling in her stomach. She couldn´t place it but she knew sitting idly in the lab wouldn´t make it go away.

Warrick grumbled all the way, until Catherine threatened to kick him out of the car, but everything changed once they reached their destination. Now it was Warrick whose instincts screamed at him, and he couldn´t stop them.

"Shouldn´t there be a guard if the gate is closed?" Catherine asked. They didn´t had any details on the case, that was the problem. Maybe there was a realtively good explanation for it. Resigning, Warrick gotinside the car and started gathering information.

Meanwhile, Catherine started exploring, much like she was processing a scene. She could see several tire trackson the dusty ground. They were no doubt succesful in getting to the scene, so she assumed the gate was closed after their entry. That alone was a troublesome thought.

While Warrick was heartedly conversing with someone from the Security company that was assigned to Faston, she tried to pinpoint the source of the buzzing sound that accompanied her from the moment she left the car. Frowning, she let her flashlight roam the fence, until it stopped on the big sign which read - Warning! High voltage! Don´t touch the fence.

With raised eyebrows, she walked back to Warrick and had him ask the Agency if the fence was supposed to be under power. Warrick waited for a moment, then threw her a curious look.

"They said no. They turned off the power when the last employees left the building."

Without a word, Catherine went to the back of their car and rummaged inside, until she pulled back a screw-wrench. She walked toward the fence but stopped three yards before it.

"Watch it," she warned and threw the screw-wrenchat the fence. It connected and fell to the ground, but not before they saw the sparks. Catherine and Warrick exchanged looks.

"We can still use the gate," Warrick commented, his eyes glinting and Catherine knew she wouldn´t like it.

xxxx

"No signal!" Grissom uttered in disbelief. He squinted at the display but the words didn´t change. He practically thrust the phone back into his pocket, even though he could gladly smash the thing against the wall. The sudden hiss from his left brought him back to the problem.

"Nick?" Grissom gently shook him, hoping for a reaction, shining the light right into Nick´s face as the CSI moaned.

"That´s it, wake up."

Nick could hear the coaxing and felt the light invading his head. He tried to turn away, to return to the blackness. Something told him it would be much nicer then the light. But the voice kept calling at him and Nick moaned. He wanted to tell whoever was there to just leave him be, but he couldn´t even open his mouth. It felt like rubber. Thinking about it, his whole body felt like rubber.

"Nick! Now is not the time to sleep." The stern voice hissed and Nick realised it belonged to Grissom. What the hell was Grissom doing there? But what was more important - how could Nick have fallen asleep in front of his boss?

That thought provided him the adrenaline needed to open his eyes, only to close them again.

"Shut the ligh´," he mumbled, hardly managing his tongue.

But Grissom deferred and Nick let out a sigh.

"Nick? I really need you to stay awake," Grissom said, the concern clear in his voice. That was rather confusing to Nick and he blinked, trying to see Grissom´s face.

Why was it dark? All around them, only the flashlight provided any illumination. And why the hell was he lying on the floor?

"W-what happ´nd?" he asked and tried to sit up, only to fallback with a grunt. He hurt. Damn, he felt as if his whole body was on fire. He felt queasy and his heart was beating hard inside his chest.

Grissom saw the panic in his eyes and laid his hand on Nick´s shoulder, trying to keep him still as well as provide a calming influence. The last they needed was Nick going into shock.

"It´s okay Nick, take it easy. How are you feeling?"

"M´ chest hurts. Feels like som´thing hit me," he mumbled, one hand already reaching up. Grissom grimaced, knowing it was his own doing. But a bruised chest was still better than death and Grissom heard of worse cases when the rescuer managed to break several ribs in the effort to save the life.

"Do you know what happened?" inquired Grissom, trying to ascertain Nick´s state of mind as well as needing him to realize they werestill not out of danger.

Nick frowned, trying to recall and his frown deepened, when he blurted out:

"Faston. The research institute. We were looking for a body?" he asked and suddenly he remembered the lights coming up, him reaching for the handle, then the burning sensation...

"Oh shit!" he swore, then he moaned as the memories came back, along with the pain. "Ahh," Nick´s hand shot up, and he curled onto his side, cradling it close to his chest, but not quite touching anything.

"What is it, Nicky?" Grissom asked, alarmed by the reaction, but then he realised what the was problem and let out a sigh. He forgot to look at Nick´s hand.

"What the hell´s - going on?" Nick hissed between gritted teeth. The feeling in his hand came back with a vengeance and he cursed whoever was responsible for it. What started as a tingling sensation turned into white burning pain. He remembered once as a kid putting his fingers into a plug. He clearly remembered the feeling of something holding his hand. It was almost impossible to pull away but he managed. It left his heart pumping hard in his chest, that weird sensation of adrenaline and fear coursing through his body. At first he hadn´t felt anything. He looked at his fingertips and they were only slightly red. Shrugging it off as much as a ten year old was capable of, he went out to play with his brother. But after a moment, the pain came and he ran back to the house, straight toward the kitchen. He remembered that he kept his fingers in a glass with water for several hours, because every time he tried to take them out the water, they started burning. He acquired a small set of blisters but they went away, leaving new, pink skin. That was many years ago.

The pain he felt now was worse, partly because it covered a bigger surface, partly because he had no water. And to make it all even better, the whole hall was like a discotheque. The lights went on and off, blinking at a dizzying speed that could made an epileptic go into a Grand Mal seizure in mere seconds.

"I think someone is playing with us, Nicky," Grissom spoke out of the blue and Nick shot him an incredilous look full of pain.

"You think?"

Grissom nodded and reached out.

"Let me take a look, Nick."

The ten year old in Nick screamed no. He knew it would hurt. But Nick wasn´t a kid anymore and he reluctantly held out his hand. But before that, he needed to get into a more comfortable position. He satup, wary of the bruised chest. "Just how the hell did that happen?" Nick asked himself.

Grissom gently took the hand and inspected the red, swollen flesh. There were already blisters developing. Pushing slightly at the skin, he got a painful yelp from Nick and the hand was quickly extracted from his grip. He was still relieved to see the skin blanched.

"Ouch!" Nick scowled at him. "That hurt."

"I know. Sorry. But I needed to know the reaction."

"Huh?"

"If the skin blanches at the touch, it means it´s only first or second degree burns. That can go without scarring, if it´s not too deep. It´s quite painful but in a way, it´s a good thing."

"How can that be good?" Nick argued.

"Third degree burns usually aren´t painful, because the nerves have been destroyed," Grissom explained. "But I think a doctor is a more qualified person to make a diagnosis, so how about we get you to a hospital?"

"Nah, I think the first aid kit in the car will be enough," Nick said, trying to ignore Grissom´s frowning face.

"Nick, maybe you don´t remember, but I had to practically tackle you to break the contact. When I did, I couldn´t find any pulse and you weren´t breathing. I had to do CPR. I am sorry, but that´s probably the reason your chest hurts." Grissom paused, giving Nick time to absorb the information. The CSI stared at him wide eyed, unable to utter a sound.

"It´s a miracle that we´re now talking, Nick, but you still need to get checked out."

"I-I was d-dead?" Nick stuttered. He couldn´t hide his shock at the fact and he didn´t try. The closeness of the death made him almost dizzy.

"Nick, you´re alive. Concentrate on that, because I will need your help."

Nick blinked and nodded. He felt as if he were in a dream, somehow numb. If not for the persisting pain, he would believe it.

"Okay," Nick said bluntly. "What should I do?"

Grissom knew it wasn´t closed. Nick would probably get back to the subject - hell, he had a feeling he should say something more about it. But as he said to Nick, now was not the time nor the place and his first priority was to get all his people into safety.

"We need to find Sara and Brass, then get the hell out of here before anyone else gets hurt. We can send in a special team once we´re outside the building. The phones don´t work in here - maybe the building has some type of shielding. Are you feeling alright Nick?"

"After everything you said? Just great, man. Help me up?" Nick extended his good hand and Grissom pulled him up, steadying him when he swayed.

"What was wrong with the doors, anyway? Why was I shocked?"

Grissom thought that was a very good question. He didn´t think about it because his attention was turned solely on Nick, but now that he asked...

Making sure Nick could stand on his own, Grissom walked toward the door, careful not to get too close and not to touch the handle. Now he could see what had escaped him before. There, in the slot for the ID card were attached two wires.

"It was a trap?" Nick spoke from behind Grissom, incredulous.

"Booby trap," he corrected.

Nick snorted.

"No kidding," he mumbled and shrugged off Grissom who hovered a little too close for his liking. "I can manage, thanks."

Grissom merely shrugged and headed for the staircase. Once reaching the door, though, they both stopped, Nick slightly panting and Grissom needing to assure himself that this door wasn´t just another trap. Though they already came through it, the power was off at that time. But look as he might, he couldn´t see any wires. The slot for the ID was on the other side of the door, obviously so in the case of fire or emergency the employees had at least a chance to get away, without needing to search for their ID cards.

Still it took courage to reach for the handle. Grissom used the back of his hand just in case so that his fingers couldn´t curl around the handle. But there was no power running through it and Grissom let out the breath he was holding, though in the next second he couldn´t stop the curse coming from his lips.

"It´s locked," he said and looked at Nick, whose face just went a shade paler.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta-reader: Sabrina

The body of the guard was laying in the heap of boxes and crates and Brass contemplated if he should risk contaminating the scene or not. He was troubled by the loss of connection, especially that Jenkins wasn´t responding. Due to the fact that this was a research facility, there could be a little more sophisticated security system with shields built in the walls or as simple a thing as a jammer. At least it would explain the No Signal part. But Brass still needed to get Grissom to process the body, as well as get out and try to call the coroner and a few other guys.

Kevin was practically jumping out of his skin. He couldn´t understand how could Brass be so calm about the body. He felt as if he could get sick at anytime, and he swalloved several times to try and stop the nausea. Just the scent of blood was making him feel caged. He wanted out and quick, but the detective looked frozen in place, only the flashlight moving up and down the body, as if he was conducting an examination. In a way, it was right what Brass did. He didn´t want to contaminate the body, but he still needed to know what happened. It would be preferable to also know who was the killer and where was he - or if he was still there. Not possible, but Brass had been around one CSI a little too long and he knew everything could speak.

And the body before him was speaking. He just didn´t like what he heard.

The man´s uniform identified him as Jack Cobless - one of the guards. By the short description Brass got from the Security company in Henderson, he could only agree with the nametag. Jack Cobless was described to him to be fifty-two years old, with graying hair and beard, which was in stark contrast to his dark skin. As Brass looked at him, he could only guess which of the wounds killed the man first, though he probably died of blood loss. Getting as close as he could without literally touching the body, Brass saw the deep slashes across the man´s wrist and the torn clothes. It looked like someone attacked him with knife, but it was a messy attack. With a lot of blood involved.

As he leaned closer, Brass started frowning. Pointing the flashlight at the face, he focused on the mouth. It was just slightly open, giving the impression that the man was about to speak, or that there would be a snore coming. At first, he thought it was due to the post mortem stiffness or whatever the hell Robbins called it, but then the light shone back into his own face, mirrored from the glistening material embedded in Jack Cobless mouth. Brass picked out a set of gloves and put them on, not caring much if Grissom would have his hide for manipulating the body or not. His focus was solely on the body and he didn´t hear Kevin shuffling behind him, staring over his shoulder.

All he saw was the triangular hat badge. He couldn´t see what was on it because of the blood it was covered with, but it was enough.

"Duty, Honor, Fidelity," Brass mumbled, for once feeling his own stomach lurch. He abruptly stood and turned away from the body, feeling the long forgotten coldness creep inside him. The motion was so fast that Kevin jumped, then ungracefully fell on his backside as he stumbled over the box. He awaited a comment or a snarl from the detective, but to his surprise all he got was a silent hand helping him up. More shocked by the silence than the gesture, Kevin gaped at his supervisor.

"Are you allright, sir?"

Brass blinked, trying to recollect his thoughts, however hard that could be. He still felt numb but at least he managed to scowl at the rookie.

"Why shouldn´t I be? You´re the one falling on hisass." It was hard and under normal circumstances Brass would never talk to a rookie - to any cop - like that. But today wasn´t a normal day by any means and his nerves were being strained by every damned blink of the lights, by every damned thought of the past.

"Hell, I'll apologize to the kid once we're finished. We have no time for this now," Brass thought and headed toward the exit. Somewhat reluctantly, Kevin followed. They were by the door when Kevin stopped and cleared his throat. He wanted to ask something and Brass almost rolled his eyes.

"What?" he asked instead and turned to the young man.

"I just... You want to leave the body alone?" Kevin threw a nervous glance back.

"Rather the body than you, sergeant," Brass bit back rather harshly.

At any other time, Brass would have approved the courage, but right now he had other issues to deal with.

"But... what if someone tampers with the body?" Kevin finally stuttered.

A raised eyebrow was all the reply he got.

"We need to summon Grissom and Nick. I also want to know why Jenkins doesn´t reply to the radio, and what the hell is wrong with the damn lights!" At the last, Brass cringed, the constant blinking grating on his already frayed nerves. Seeing this, Kevin decided to shut up and leave the case in the capable hands of the famous Detective Brass. As if he had any other choice in the matter.

xxxxxxx

Sara was angry. The damn chair was probably stolen from some hospital, she thought as her back cramped in protest. She couldn´t move, hell, she couldn´t even talk.

What made her furious though were the crazy chuckles coming from her captor as they both watched Grissom´s efforts to revive Nick. She wanted to scream when she saw it and she couldn´t even describe the relief when Nick came to himself. But what made her blood boil was the obvious pleasure the man got from the suffering of her friends.

When the scene ended, the monitors blinked back with a new one. Sara watched as Grissom tried in vain to open the door to the staircase, she saw Nick´s face screw up in pain when he involuntarily touched the wall with his burnt hand. She cringed with him, then frowned as she realised that the captor was no longer watching the monitor, but her.

For the first time she got a really good look at him and she didn´t like it. As a lot of other killers, this one had a regular face. No scars, no warning printed on his forehead that he was a freak. Only the cold eyes and the constant twitch in his right eye were something out of the ordinary. But if Sara had saw him on the street with sunglasses on, she would have thought he was just a normal guy.

He was watching her and suddenly she felt like one of Grissom´s bugs. She couldn´t hide the shiver and it made him smile for a second, then as suddenly as he caught her, his face was a mask of stone. No emotion whatsoever.

"I think you´re wondering who I am. Or what I want." He waited and Sara cursed him. Of course it made it through her sealed lips only as a grumble and the man snorted.

"Well, if you think I will start spilling out my guts to you and tell you all about my plans, you will be disappointed. But... that doesn´t mean I won´t talk. After all, I could use some friendly company, as we will be here a little longer." Seeing the question in her eyes, the man winked and without more explanation turned back to the monitors and once again replayed the scene with Brass and Kevin.

Sara frowned. Why was he so absorbed with it? She watched with growing interest as the man started playing with the computer and turned his attention fully on the body. He took special time to enlarge the section with Brass examining the body and he paused it on the detective´s face when he discovered the shining thing in the dead man´s mouth.

And seeing the detective´s face Sara realized that Brass knew. Somehow, the detective knew what this was all about and seeing the fear in his eyes, the thight set of his jaws and the following harsh words toward the rookie, Sara knew it didn´t make the situation any better. Because if Brass was scared, it had to be bad.

xxxx

"Aw, shit!" Nick didn´t curse often but it seemed like he wasn´t doing anything else in the last few minutes. At least he thought so, but in reality most of the cursing he managed to keep inside. But when his hand touched the fabric of his shirt for the third time, increasing the burning sensation, he couldn´t stop it again. Now he looked up, a little ashamed.

"Damn it, I'm acting like some stupid kid," Nick thought but hell, it hurt and it wasn´t getting any better.

"We should find some water or at least a first aid kit," Grissom spoke and left the door. They were opening towards them so there was no way they could kick them open, not to mention they were steel. And anyway, neither of them was in physical shape to do so. While Grissom was fairly okay, only little sore from the fall when he tackled Nick, his shoulder wasn´t doing so good. Although not dislocated, it was surely bruised and painful. No throwing himself at anything hard in the near future.

"I should´ve taken care of it first, but I thought we could get to the car. Come on, there should be some bathrooms, with running water. Maybe we can find a first aid kit."

"Shouldn´t lose time with that," Nick mumbled, angry at himself. Damn, why hadn´t he seen the wires? And to top it off, now he was slowing Grissom down, even though they should try to warn the others. Were they even alive?

"Nick!" Grissom didn´t like the far away look Nick had, nor the angry lines. He didn´t planned to shout, but being fairly shaken by the recent events, Grissom´s nerves weren´t in much better shape than Nick´s.

"Huh?" the man in question jerked, then hissed.

"There aren´t many ways to get out of this building. We could be here for some time, facing other traps. I need you in the best possible shape. That means taking care of that hand. It´s not lost time."

He watched as Nick processed what was said, then slowly nodded, looking more lucid. Grissom still supressed the urge to reach out and check his pulse, just to make sure it was there.

"Do you think they´re alright?" Nick spoke all of a sudden and Grissom heard the concern in his voice.

"I hope so," was all he said. They were slowly moving down the corridor, pausing at each door, checking it for wires, even though they didn´t risk trying to open them. Grissom read every nampelate and discovered another two "wired" doors. The rest were clear. They reached another corner when Nick paused. Grissom thought he saw him sway and without asking grabbed his shoulder. Nick leaned into it somewhatawkwardly, looking around squinting.

"What´s wrong, Nick?" Grissom asked, getting worried.

Nick swallowed and slightly shook his head.

"I'm okay," he mumbled and straightened. "But I think we´re being watched."

Grissom´s eyes narrowed and he fought the urge to turn and look, but he did get a hold on his gun.

"N-no, not like that. At least-" Nick shook his head. "There are cameras in every corner. It´s hard to spot them now, but I saw them earlier in the lobby. I would say it´s a closed circuit TV."

"It doesn´t have to be turned on," Grissom said, trying to look as relaxed as it was possible. Nick merely shrugged.

"A moment ago, the camera above the elevators moved. If not for those stupid flickering lights, I wouldn´t have seen it. And if it moved, someone had to tell the computer to do it."

"There was a security room right in the lobby. Maybe Sara or Brass?"

"Don´t have a feeling it´s them. The whole thing with the power outage, those lights, the closed doors... it looks like someone made arrangements."

Grissom acknowledged him with a slight quirk of his head, eyebrows furrowed and lips pouted - a typical picture of Gil Grissom deep in thoughts.

"If it´s none of us, then the suspect is still in the building. Maybe in the lobby, but it would be more likely somewhere else - where it´s hard to get."

"The laboratories?" Nick offered and Grissom thought it over, giving a half-shrug, conscious of his bad shoulder.

"The whole electricity thing is weird," Nick mumbled and Grissom shot him a look.

"I believe it´s more to take control over us than anything else."

"What about the lights? Are they acting up on their own?"

"It´s a psychological move, Nick. It makes you wary at every step. It elevates the stress factor, not to say it can cause a pretty bad headache," saying that Grissom rubbed the bridge of his nose and Nick shot him a sympathetic smile. Even from the moment he came back to consciousness, the headache was one of the things troubling him, but he wasn´t sure if it was due to the electric shock or if he just hit it in the fall.

Nick could see Grissom watched his every step but still couldn´t accept the fact he was dead - even if just for a moment. The only thing he remembered was the pain and the lightning images in his head, as if it was the fourth of Juny. No tunnel with a light at the end, or long dead relatives waiting for him.

"Nick? I think we found it," Grissom´s voice stopped him in front of the bathroom. The older man was already checking the handle but there was no slot on it. Guess they didn´t need to identify themselves when going to take a leak, Nick smirked, earning a confused look from Grissom. He ignored it.

"Shall we take a look?"

"Be my guest," Nick said and watched with dread as Grissom first touched the handle with the back of his hand. Nothing happened and with a relieved sigh, Grissom opened the door. Nick followed him inside, to the nearest sink.

At first Nick hissed when the cold water hit his hand, but the pain dulled, the coldness numbing the appendage. Relishing it, Nick didn´t realize Grissom left until he heard the door closing. Turning in fright, he saw Grissom with a first aid kit and a triumphant smile.

"Where did you go?" Nick snapped, suddenly angry at himself as well as Grissom. Didn´t the man know there was some freak in the building? And he walked off alone!

The smile on Grissom´s face was replaced by a serious expression.

"I saw another room next to this, the door wasn´t locked. It was a broom locket, but I found a first aid kit there, as well as this." And he hold up a pair of yellow rubber gloves, probably used by the cleaning staff.

"They're thicker than the gloves we use, should prevent another shock."

"Great," Nick mumbled. "They didn´t have any other color?"

Grissom ignored the gibe and opened the kit, looking through it. He found some tylenol but to his disappointment, it was long after the expiration date as well as everything else. The only thing he could use without risk were the bandages.

"How´s the hand?" he enquired, looking at the hand when Nick pulled it from the water. It was swollen and angry red, while the palm was covered with several blisters - none of them were broken though. Although the water cooled down the skin and numbed the hand, Grissom knew that if Nick didn´t get medical attention soon, the pain would be bad. The other thing Grissom feared was the risk of infection.

"Doesn´t hurt so bad," Nick replied to the question, seeing the concern in the older man´s face. He too was concerned, but more by the sudden lightheadedness. Unnoticed by Grissom, Nick leaned on the sink for support while he put the burned hand back under the water for a moment longer.

"I am not going to faint," he repeated himself several times, until the black spots in his vision vanished and he could see clearly again. Sighing in relief, Nick turned off the water. He was for once thankful for the coldness that momentarily took away the pain, as he was sure the bandaging would hurt.

Two minutes later, Nick held the bandaged hand to his chest, mumbling his thanks to Grissom.

"You´re welcome. But if you can, keep the hand elevated - it should help with the swelling and the pain."

"Okay. Where do we go from here?" Nick asked as they left the bathroom and looked around the corridor. They stood there and knew there were only two ways out - and the staircase was blocked. Thus, there remained only the elevators. But they weren´t working when they arrived and surely won´t be working now, with the lights flickering.

Something was humming though, a familiar sound to anyone living on upper floors, waiting for an elevator. Grissom and Nick exchanged looks and turned the corner just in time to hear a ping and see the door opening. They reacted instinctively. Grissom pointed his gun toward the elevator while Nick, unable to use his hand, pushed himself to the wall to make as small a target as possible.

They waited.

xxxXXXxxx

"You´re kidding!" the exclamation was uttered in pure wonder. "You want me to climb over that gate? It´s at least eight feet high!"

"Yeah, so?" Warrick was grinning and Catherine gave an exasperated snort.

"If this is just some stupid game, I will kill both you and Gil! If I don´t kill myself in the process of climbing."

"Why are you so grumpy, Cath? I thought you would like a little exercise," Warrick gibed and chuckled at the killer glares coming from Catherine. Despite all the joking, they were both nervous. Trying to call the others one last time, Warrick stored the cell in his pocket and looked up at the gate. Catherine was right, though it was maybe 8 1/2 feet if he should be more precise.

"It won´t be a problem," he mumbled, knowing that he managed to climb up much higher gates. "Hey Cath, maybe I can get through and then open it from inside?"

It wasn´t a bad thought, but Catherine shook her head.

"No, I should go first. I'll need you to help me up and if you wouldn´t be able to open it from inside, I doubt I could climb up on my own."

"All right. Do you want to grab some things?"

Catherine nodded and went to the car, pulling out the basic evidence kit. She found a backpack and stuffed it with a few other things then threw it at Warrick.

"Hey!" he protested, narrowly catching the pack with a whoof as it knocked the air out of him. Catherine closed the car, making sure they would find it upon their return and walked up to Warrick, who was trying to get a look into the pack.

"No time for that. Well? Give me a hand."

"Oh man," Warrick grumbled then leaned over a little, supporting one hand with the other when Catherine stepped on it, then gave her a lift. With a gasp, Catherine grabbed the top of the gate, grateful that there weren´t any spikes or barbed wire. Pulling herself up, she took a second to look around from the top. She could see that the security booth was empty, and except for the cars parked before the building, there were no visible life signs.

"Cath? Problems?"

"No, just enjoying the view," she huffed back at him, then carefully she leaned the top of her body on the gate, while swinging her left leg across it, then using her own weight, she moved her other leg, so she was now hanging on the inner side of the gate. Casting a quick glance down, she let go.

Warrick heard the soft grump and frowned a little. He hoped Catherine didn´t do any damage to herself.

"Hey, you okay?"

"Throw the pack and the kit over, would you?" came the reply and Warrick smirked. Leave it to Catherine to be the practical one.

"Sure. Look out!" he warned before doing so. Two thuds later, Warrick looked up, prepared to climb the gate, when he heard a buzz and saw the gate move. Shaking his head in wonder, he waited for the gate to open wide so they could drive in with the car, but the gate suddenly stopped. Being open no more then three feet wide, it was all Warrick needed to get in, but why didn´t Cath open it all the way?

"Catherine?" Warrick asked with concern, and pulled through the opening. Just in time, as the gate started to close. "What-"

"I don´t know," Catherine walked out of the security booth, looking puzzled. "I kept pushing the button, but the gate stopped then it started to close. At least you're skinny," she added, the corner of her lips turning slightly upward. Warrick threw her a glare, then scanned their surroundings. It was dark and he couldn´t see too much, but the rocky mass on the left was quite apparent as well as the building sitting beneath it. All around was dry land, only with a few bigger boulders thrown across the ground.

"Is there anything in the booth?" he asked, turning back to Catherine.

"Didn´t look around much. But no blood or other evidence of a fight, if you mean that."

Warrick nodded and followed Catherine inside. She was right, no evidence of fight, but there were several interesting things there. First off, the monitor of the computer went all black, only a single word blinking the warning on the left upper corner.

"Intruders!" Warrick asked in awe. How the hell did the computer know they were intruders? Catherine shook her head, not understanding herself.

"Maybe some security system. Could be someone from the building took control of the gate, added commands into the system."

"That´s ridiculous. Who would do that?"

The only reply was a shrug and a worried glance toward the building. Blinking, he squinted at the image. The building wasn´t dark like they thought. He could see flickering light in several windows on both floors. The rate of it though was alarming. Nobody would just turn on and off the lights. Could it be there were troubles with the security system? Maybe a virus?

Or was it a fire alarm? But there was no sound, and as far as he could tell, no fire either. Puzzled and now also worried, Warrick looked through the small booth. Except for the table with the computer and two other monitors that were now black, there was only the chair and one cabinet. The cabinet was closed but they found a plan in the desk.

"I think it´s about time we find out what the hell´s going on here," Warrick mumbled.

In silent agreement the two CSI´s stepped out of the booth, picked up the basic evidence kit as well as the backpack and headed toward the building. They made it as far as thirty yards from the gate, when the silence of the night was broken by a high pitched alarm, that hid the sound of shooting. The first bullet hit the ground mere feet from Catherine. She yelped and jumped back, not sooner than there was a shower of bullets where she once stood.

"Run!" Warrick shouted and grabbed her hand, before turning and pulling Catherine toward the only cover. He dove behind the boulder just as he felt something hit him hard in the back. He was still holding on to Catherine.

xxxx

"They´re gone!" Kevin stated in astonishment. He was peeking into the lobby through the door that refused to open. Only the top half was made from glass, but that was enough to start Brass trying to break it. No help there, it was in all probablity bullet-proof. Why such extreme measures in such a small complex was a mystery, but they had no time to solve it.

"No, they wouldn´t just leave on their own," Brass harshly spoke, getting more worried about the others.

"Then what-"

"Something must´ve happened. Can you... can you see something different?"

Kevin pushed his face at the glass, making it misty with his own breath. He was squinting hard, but could only shake his head.

"I'm sorry, detective. I don´t see anyone. The lights are making it all the more blurry."

"That´s okay," Brass sighed and Kevin realized it was the first time the man didn´t snap at him. Quirking his eyebrows, he was about to offer to try to break through the door anyway, when the other man raised his hand to indicate silence, his posture strained.

Kevin didn´t understand the reason, but he too tensed up, turning away from the lobby.

"You hear it?" Brass almost whispered and Kevin tilted his head slightly, listening. He blinked in surprise when he realized he indeed heard the sound and could easily identify it´s source.

"The elevator?" he added in soft voice and Brass nodded. Without any more words, they moved towards the source, getting there just in time to see the indicator stop on number 2.

"I thought this was only the first floor," Kevin noted, confused.

"Well, they probably gave the ground-floor number one," Brass replied distractedly as he waited for the indicator to move. He hoped the number two meant under ground laboratories but he knew that was just his wishful thinking. Someone was coming up and if it wasn´t Grissom or Nick calling the car, it was probably someone else. He held his breath when the car moved. He thought he heard a muttered voice coming from inside when the car passed their floor. But it didn´t stop even when Brass angrily stabbed on the calling button. With a curse he hit the button several times after the car stopped and he was sure all the passengers were out of it. But the car didn´t move and with a surprise both cops watched as the indicator turned black and the humming sound of the motor stopped altogether.

"Seems like they aren´t coming up," Kevin said after a rather long silence, not prepared for the seething detective to bolt and run toward the staircase. Trying to hide his surprise over the rash action, Kevin followed suit.

xxxx

It was the headache that woke him up, closely followed by the sharp lights. He was laying on his back, more like sprawled he thought, and gingerly touched his head.

Rafael Jenkins was a cop for some time, but he had luck with injuries - suffering only from bruises and a broken nose from a thief. Getting knocked out wasn´t his idea of fun and he started to understand just why it was some people were grumpy after getting a concussion. It was worse than his last hangover.

Blinking, Jenkins tried in vain to remember just how he ended up in this position. Slowly, taking his time, he got to his feet, swaying dangerously and cursing at the same time, when he leaned against the wall and took a good look around. He was in a lobby. Even with the somewhat blurry vision he recognized the red splatters as blood, and the black as a powder Sara used for taking the prints.

"Ah shit," Jenkins moaned as the memories came back. Not all and they were pretty distorted, but he knew for sure that Jim Brass told him not to let Sara out of his sight. Well, technically, he didn´t - but who would tell this to the detective? And whatever happened to the CSI?

Carefully touching the side of his head, Jenkins thought if it wouldn´t just be easier to lie back down and pretend he was still unconscious. That way, maybe Brass wouldn´t kill him straight away.

Quickly dismissing the thought, the sergeant reached for his radio. Of course it didn´t work. Calling out for the others maybe wasn´t wise, but he didn´t see any other way. Maybe Sidle was trying to get some help. There definitely weren't any new blood stains if he didn´t count the one his own injury created on the floor. Cringing and trying to breath out the nausea, Jenkins wobbled into the security room, aware of the fact that was their first plan before his skull exploded and Sidle vanished.

He made it, though barely, and grabbed at the chair for support. For the several following minutes Jenkins only concentrated on breathing, wishing the nausea and the headache away. Finally not feeling like puking, he slid into the chair and let out a breath.

He was facing the wall with the monitors, all of them dead to the world. All but two, he realised with surprise as the two monitors on the farther side blinked to life. Jenkins watched, puzzled, the dry ground and several rocks. Then he spotted the two figures walking toward the camera. They looked slightly familiar, but he couldn´t be sure, they were a little far away.

He almost jumped when he realized the two figures were CSI´s and that they were in reality just heading towards the same building he was in. Excited and feeling relieved at the prospect of another living soul, he didn´t notice the red light coming alive at the panel of the desk. Only when the alarm started blaring and the two figures on the monitors started running, did he realize something was wrong. But he could do nothing but watch as the bullets followed them, until they both vanished behind a boulder. It wasn´t soon enough though, as one of the bullets found its mark.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta-reader: Sabrina

"Duty, Honor, Fidelity," Brass mulled over those three words all the way up the stairs and he wasn´t the only one.

"What was it, detective? Whad did you find?" Kevin finally asked, unable to contain his curiosity anymore. He saw the look on the detective´s face in the storage room and he leaned over his shoulder close enough to hear the three words, but didn´t know the meaning or the reason Brass spoke them.

"It´s none of your business," Brass replied in the middle of the stairs and threw Kevin a warning glare, but this time it didn´t work.

"With all respect, Sir," Kevin emphasized the last word. "But I think it is my business. I would really like to know what´s going on."

"I don´t know!" Brass barked and in a way, it wasn´t a lie. But he couldn´t stop thinking about past actions and consequences.

A much younger Jim Brass was on his way to the office, dragging his feet as much as he could without literally coming to a stop. The trial was about to start the next Monday - a whole week of more or less subtle hate from his colleagues. Well, from those that were left in the department. Baring himself for yet another day of hateful glances, and not so harmless pranks, Jim Brass pushed the call button and waited for the elevator.

He was all alone in the parking lot, but it wasn´t too weird. Even before it all started, Brass was coming to work earlier than most of the cops. He liked to be in the office first, maybe because it gave him a chance to get out of his home before the morning chaos. His two daughters were still too young and his wife wasn´t the cheeriest person when trying to make breakfast, while the two girls squealed and constantly bickered over one thing or another. Thus, Brass enjoyed the chance to drink his coffee in silence.

He never anticipated the hand that landed on his shoulder. It wasn´t a friendly tap, Brass already knew he couldn´t expect any of that anymore. He still turned with hope that this wouldn't be the proverbial Damocles sword falling on his head. Seeing the hate filled eyes put that hope aside, though.

"Josh," he acknowledged the presence and cast a wary glance at the othe three figures standing behind.

The arm on Brass' shoulder squeezed hard, Josh obviously not concerned by the bruises. Brass didn´t think he would be.

"You put my bro´ behind bars. And plenty of other good guys, too."

Brass didn´t speak. He knew anything he said would just be turned against him, most probably by someone´s fist. For the first time in the last months, he wished he would´ve stayed at home.

"I can´t let you ruin my family and just get away with it, Brass. I will make sure your life here will be a living hell, and I know for sure that some other cops will heartily help me out."

"Duty, honor, fidelity. Do you know what those words mean?" Brass spat out and prepared himself for a fight.

"It means you don´t ruin the lives of the cops that were ready to risk their necks for you," came the angry reply.

"No, it means you don´t look away when some dealer is selling drugs to kids in school just because he pays you. It means you don´t kill another cop when he doesn´t want to play your game. Perhaps your brother had some trouble grasping the concept," Brass hissed, all the anger giving way to righteous indignation. "He didn´t deserve that badge, and you don´t deserve it either!"

And that was when the first fist landed. Not so much later, when Brass came to, he found himself in the dump container behind the police station. Even there, though, he could hear the hateful words uttered to him in the midst of the beating.

"You will pay for it. One day, you will pay for this, Brass. And I will rob you of your family, like you robbed me of my brother."

"It´s closed, detective," the voice from the present brought him back and Brass blinked away the bad memories, still feeling the shiver run through him. Could it be Josh had come to fulfill his promise?

"Sir?" Kevin looked at the man with concern. Brass looked lost in his thought but Kevin needed him in the present. "The door-"

"I heard you the first time, Kevin." Without losing time to recheck, Brass started to descend the stairs. "We need to find another way," he mumbled, knowing that if it was Josh behind all this, there would be a way. If nothing else, then Josh himself would provide him with one.

xxxx

Gil Grissom was never one to be scared easily, but all he wanted in the last hour was a quiet ride on a roller coaster. It would surely be less stressful than this. When the elevator stopped and the door opened, he waited with baited breath for someone to step out. But the car was empty. Frowning, he slowly walked up to it and looked inside.

"I think we´ve got an invitation," he mumbled and more felt than heard Nick move behind him. The younger CSI peeked into the car, then looked at his supervisor.

"I don´t get it. Who´s behind all this? And what are his plans?"

Grissom looked at Nick, seeing the confusion mixed with anger over their predicament. He would´ve liked to give him a straight answer, but he didn´t have it.

"I don´t know, Nick. But I don´t think it´s anything good." Grissom paused, casting a glance toward one of the cameras. As if taunting him, the camera made a small, almost imperceptible move and Grissom clenched his teeth.

"You said it before - he´s playing with us." With a grunt, Nick propped up his bad hand so now it rested on his shoulder. Although it didn´t seem like much, at least the pain wasn´t getting worse.

"I wonder if Sara and Jim are all right."

"I hope so. This whole thing looks like a set up," Grissom stated thoughtfuly.

"Well what are we gonna do about it?"

"You want to take a ride?" Grissom´s eyes glinted playfully and Nick smirked.

"You know it could be a trap. You´re not afraid the car will just fall with us?"

Grissom´s half shrug was a reply enough, but he couldn´t resist an urge to add:

"It won´t be more than four stories." This time Nick merely rolled his eyes, too tired to do anything else. Grissom noticed it and his face turned serious.

"If you don´t feel up to it, you can stay here, Nick."

Even as the first words left his mouth, Grissom realized it was a ridiculous offer.

"No, thanks. I think the worst thing would be to separate. We made that mistake once - we shouldn´t repeat it."

Grissom felt the words strike home but he pushed the guilt back. Nick was right though - they couldn´t separate. There was no way to tell what was waiting for them if they got onto the car, but leaving Nick there alone in his condition was foolhardy.

Nick saw the silent agreement and nodded himself.

"Well then lead on, McDuff."

"Actually, it´s Lay on, Macduff," Grissom corrected him automatically, to which he got a confused "Huh?"

"Macbeth," he said as if that explained it all. Nick though wasn´t feeling up to riddles and just shook his head.

"It´s the last scene. 'Lay on, Macduff, and damn'd be him that first cries, 'Hold, enough!' They´re Macbeth´s last words, meaning "go for it, Macduff, let´s fight to the death!"

"Either way, I think it can be applied in our situation, so shall we go?"

When they were standing in the car and the door closed, Nick only prayed that those wouldn't be their last words. Because if he remembered correctly, Macbeth was slain right after the words left his mouth. But it looked like they would have a little more luck, he thought as the car moved, starting their slow descent.

xxxx

Catherine more felt then saw when the bullet hit Warrick in the back. His body jerked, but she couldn´t tell if he fell or rather dived behind the cover of the boulder. It didn´t matter much as he was pulling her down with him, into safety. For a minute they both just lay there, waiting for the shooting to stop. As the fire ceased, so did the alarm and the desert was once again silent.

Encouraging herself, Catherine pulled out her arm from Warrick´s still strong grasp.

"Warrick?" she asked, her voice slightly quivering.

"Hmpf," was the reply and Catherine didn´t know if she should feel relieved or not. Warrick was clearly alive, but he could still be gravely injured.

"Were you hit?" she inquired, berating herself for the stupidity of the question. Of course he was hit. Why else would he just lay there on the ground, eating dust?

"Uhm," Warrick grumbled, then moaned as he felt the pain in his back. Without any more questions, Catherine blindly reached out, only to touch the rough material of the backpack. Frowning, and maybe hoping, she took it off Warrick´s back, all the while trying not to hurt him. After some grumbling, which was turning out to be more coherent with every moment, she could finally check Warrick´s back. There, in the right upper quadrant, where she could feel his shoulderblade, was a tear in the jacket. She lightly pushed at it to which Warrick practically jerked away from her touch. She didn´t mind it though and her fingers probed under the jacket, the confusion turning into relief as she found there was no blood, no hole in the body.

"Oh man," Warrick grumbled, propping himself up on his elbows and knees, hissing as the movement irritated the muscles in his back.

"Welcome back," Catherine greeted him, having a better mood than the situation deserved, but she just couldn´t help the silly grin or the urge to reach out and hug him.

"What the hell?" Warrick grouched and tried to pull away, only to end up gasping as he hit his back against the boulder. "Damn it, Cath, get off of me!"

"Well, glad you´re alive, too," she muttered and let out a sigh, opening the backpack. While she rummaged in it, Warrick tried to remember exactly what happened. At the rustling sound and a victorious yelp from Catherine, he looked up at her.

It was still dark outside and the stars nor the moon didn´t provide them enough light, but Warrick still saw the lines of a PDA. But it looked a little weird. As Catherine pushed it into his hands, he realized what was wrong.

There, in the left corner of the PDA was an embeded bullet.

"At first it ran through this though," Catherine said, holding out a spare flashlight. Warrick´s probing fingers quickly found the hole in the handle.

"Oh joy, hope that Grissom won´t pull it from my pay."

"I think Gil is momentarily our smallest problem, Warrick. Someone was shooting at us, if you didn´t notice."

"Oh sorry, I had no time while I was pulling you to cover," Warrick replied mockingly, while he threw both the broken PDA and the flashlight back to the bag.

"By the way, thanks for that," Catherine said, her voice serious. Warrick, suddenly embarassed by his behavior, mumbled a silent "You would´ve done the same thing for me," then quickly started assessing their situation before Catherine could say more.

"Do you think there´s a sniper in the building?" Catherine asked, matter of factly.

"I´m not sure," he replied and was already crouching by the side of the boulder, gun in hand. He waved with his hand and quickly retracted it as several shots rang out.

"Trying to get killed?" Catherine hissed at him angrily, to which Warrick only shrugged, then pushed around her and crouched on the other side of the boulder. He repeated his action, though this time there was no shooting. Getting brave, he gingerly peeked out.

xxxXXXxxx

The air was silent, no alarm blared, no fire and Warrick could take a look around. They were maybe forty yards from the building, more to the side. To the left they had the rocks, to the right was an open area.

"I think we should keep to the left," Warrick silently advised, getting a simple nod from Catherine, before his words get registered.

"Keep to the left? What do you mean?"

"Well, we need to get to the building,don´t we? We can try to go by the rocks. It´s dark, the sniper won´t see us-"

"But he saw as quite well before, Warrick," Catherine protested. "He´s probably using night vision. There´s no way to tell if he´s alone, either. I don´t think we should risk it - not before we know where the hell he even is."

"You´ve got a point there," Warrick agreed and started unpacking the bag. Catherine frowned at him but he didn´t mind. "I won´t be responsible for anymore equipment getting broken just because someone wants to kill us," he explained, getting an incredible gasp in reply.

"What do you want to do?" Catherine asked him after a moment, while her partner was looking around, searching. "Oh, damn it. No boughs, no sticks around. Well, we wont be using this anymore either," he said as he took the destroyed flashlight and put the backpack on it, then pushed it to Catherine´s hands.

"What?"

"Just keep it out and wave with it for a moment. Be careful so he won´t hit you." Then Warrick returned to the left side of the boulder while Catherine crouched on the right one, shooting him a questioning look. She realised what was his plan and with a sigh and a roll of her eyes, pushed out the backpack, using the flashlight as a stick from the broom, anything just not get into the way of fire. The shooter didn´t disappoint them when he once again started firing. While Catherine did her best not to throw the backpack away when the bullets flew through it, Warrick was peeking out and getting his aim. He could see the flashes of light from the barrel of the gun as the bullets were fired.

Taking aim, Warrick squinted and pulled the trigger. He fired out three more times until the sniper stopped shooting and Warrick returned to safety behind the boulder.

"You think you hit him?"

"That, or I just warned him I knew his position," Warrick slid down, his back leaning against the boulder and Catherine sit down next to him.

"What are we gonna do now?"

That was a good question.

"We can take a risk and try to run for it - hoping that the sniper is already on his way home. Or we can wait here until someone comes."

"It´s still dark. Can´t we use that?"

Warrick shook his head.

"He has night vision and an optical sight. Maybe if we could distract him... damn it, what´s going on here, Cath? Why are their cells out of reach if I can see Grissom´s car over here? And who the hell is trying to kill us?"

Catherine didn´t know what to say. She only hoped their friends were all right, but deep inside she couldn´t stop the cold feeling of dread and for the first time that night, she wanted nothing more than to go home and hug her daughter.

xxxx

Sara jerked as the alarm sounded and she wasn´t the only one. Her captor frowned at the display, for a moment looking confused, then simply annoyed. No sooner was he reaching into his pocket when a crackling sound resonated through the room and a voice spoke.

"We have a problem," the radio cracked and Sara´s eyes went wide at the implication. Until now, she hoped they were dealing only with one man - now there were at least two of them.

"I see it. Well, why don´t you get rid of them?"

"I´m trying, but that bastard was shooting at me!" the voice belonging to a man exclaimed, somewhat angrily, and for a second Sara almost shouted a satisfied Yes! before she realised that it probably wouldn´t be the smartest thing to do. She still couldn´t hide her excitement hearing that someone was in reality fighting back.

It quickly vanished though.

"For Christ´s sake, then shoot back. Are you a sniper or a whiny kid?" the captor growled. "Get rid of them, then get scarce. You know the plan." Not waiting for the reply, he turned off the radio and put it back into his pocket, then his attention was back on the monitors. He enlarged one of them. Sara turned her head, leaning forward as much as she could, wanting to see what was going on and just who came to their rescue. Her first reaction was to smile at seeing the all too familiar figures of her fellow CSIs. But it quickly vanished as she realised that they were alone. And out in the open with a sniper determined to kill them.

"Surprised? Well, you surely didn´t think I would be so stupid as to want to play cat and mouse with you guys all alone?" her captor asked, turning at her with a glare. Of course, Sara´s only reply was to glare back at him.

"Ah, I will guess. A black man and a woman. Who that could be? Mr. Brown and Ms. Willows, if I am not mistaken. What, no witty comments?" Despite the sarcasm, Sara caught the slight catch in his voice and suddenly realised that the man don´t wanted any surprises and that Warrick and Catherine definitely were a surprise to him.

Hiding the slight tug of her lips beneath the tape, Sara felt a little of her earlier confidence returning. Knowing Grissom and Brass, they would both do their best to save them all. She could only hope that they wouldn't be too late, Sara thought, as she saw Warrick and Catherine hiding behind the boulder, as the sniper did his best to triumphin his quest.

Sara startled when her captor suddenly stood, tapping last commands into the computer then walking up behind her. She almost stopped breathing when she heard the rustle behind her, then as suddenly as he vanished, the man stood before her, his face reminding her of a kid on Christmas Day. Despite swearing to herself she wouldn't let the fear show, it was really hard to stop the sweat trickling down her forehead. If anything, it just made her captor smile a little wider. Though more threatening than the smile was the small tube in his hand.

Sara swallowed. It didn´t look good.

"You probably want to know what´s in this," the man spoke up in cheery voice which under the circumstances deserved minimally a kick in the gut, but she couldn´t even spat him in the face.

"Well, before coming here, I took a little vacation - you know, gather my strength. You won´t believe how easy it is to get some potent stuff in Jamaica. All the black magic and the shamans, you can imagine," the man smiled sweetly and pulled out a pair of gloves right from Sara´s pocket.

"I´ll borrow those for a moment. Now, you probably don´t believe in all the voodoo and such - as you´re scientist, right? But I know for sure you won´t have anything against a certain species that can be found there. Really interesting effects, too."

He wiggled the tube before her eyes and Sara couldn´t push back the panic. Did he wanted to drug her? Feeling her heart beat harder, Sara blinked, her eyes frantically looking for a way out. There was none.

"Ah, ah, aren´t we a little scared Ms. Sidle?" the man teased, then reached out and in a second snatched Sara´s ID card. She didn´t even know what happened until he waved it before her eyes. She frowned, confused.

"You see I don´t have any interest in drugging you. But I am really curious as to the reactions I´ll get from my friend." As the man spoke, he pulled up the gloves and opened the tube, pushing out a transculent gel. It rather reminded Sara of jello, only this was more disgusting. With careful circular motions, the man spread the goo across the surface of the ID card. Sara watched in fascination as he showed her the card. Maybe it looked a little smeared, but it was nothing an unsuspecting person would take notice of.. Surely not before it was too late.

xxxx

Jim Brass didn´t hear the shooting. He and Kevin were already two floors underground, currently trying to figure out how to get inside. It was to their surprise, then, that they found the door to the laboratories open. Throwing a cautious look at the younger man, Brass nervously stepped over the threshold, automatically scanning the corridor. But he couldn´t see a thing and he quickly reached for the flashlight in Kevin´s hand. Unlike on the upper floors, the lights weren´t blinking there. The whole floor was dark and eerily quiet.

Brass shook off the feeling of foreboding when he indicated to Kevin to follow him. He still didn´t know who was behind all of this, but he had a pretty good idea. And it made him all the more determined to catch the killer and save his friends. Because if he was sure of one thing, it was that his friends were in even bigger danger than he himself was.

"Where now?" Kevin asked in hushed voice, pointing the flashlight at the two separating corridors. Brass frowned and tried to recall where were the elevators. It looked like the laboratories underground were more extensive than the two floors above the ground. But it could´ve been just his imagination. Still, it was definitely not the same structure. There were more corridors running through the floor, making it harder to orientate - especially in the darkness.

"To the right. If Grissom and Nick are here, I want to find them," Brass said and headed to the right, but stopped abruptly as he heard a short buzzing. Frowning, he pointed the flashlight toward the sound then uttered a wholehearted curse.

"That bastard!" He was watching them the whole time, knowing their every step. It was only logical, but Brass didn´t even take notice of the cameras, though he was a cop and under any other circumstance, that would be one of the first things to do. Until now, though, Brass used the cameras only to his advantage, as a tool to see past events. But just as suddenly, he realised that it could be used also by the bad guys. With an angry growl, not caring how stupid it could´ve been, Brass walked up to the camera, as close as he could get.

"I will get you," he hissed, making sure that the person on the other side could read the threat from his lips. Then he reached up and with a swift move pulled the camera off the wall, smashing it to the floor.

Kevin was about to point out the futility of such action but having enough self preservation, he rather shut his mouth before he could say anything stupid. Brass looked his way, his face an angry mask.

"I know we can´t cut off every damn camera, but I sure as hell won´t let him watch our every step!" Brass uttered with resolve.

Kevin bit at his lower lip, he so was dying to ask the question.

"Do you know who´s behind this?" he finally lost the fight with his curiosity. But he didn´t get an answer. Somewhere, not too far from them, something crashed. They could hear the retreating steps before they started running.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta-reader: Sabrina

Grissom worriedly looked at his companion, whose sickly pallor was even more pronounced in the illumination of the car. Nick was standing in the corner, trying not to lean too heavily against the wall and at the same time not stumble over. He felt a little nauseous but he doubted it was motion sickness. Maybe the shortness of breath or the tightness in his chest had something to do with it, but Nick was trying hard not to let Grissom know just how miserable he felt.

But it was hard to hide something from Grissom and the scientist kept frowning at him. At last the car stopped and the door opened, only to show them utter darkness. It didn´t pay off to be careful - there could´ve been a whole army hidden in the darkness and they wouldn´t see it, while they were in the lit car, practically unprotected. And there wasn´t a whole lot they could´ve changed about it.

"Come on, we better get out of here," Grissom said in a hushed tone and grabbed Nick´s arm, steadying him as he stumbled. Nick didn´t get a chance to protest, he just wanted to get as far away from the elevator as it was possible. Even if it meant to blindly follow his chief, who was practically dragging him off. They stopped only when the door to the elevator closed, leaving them in darkness. Without having to be asked, Nick turned on the flashlight. He turned around, lighting up the strange corridor. Both he and Grissom took their time to take in the picture, to notice the two cameras - one pointing toward the elevators, the second to the U shaped corridor. At least they were alone.

"Maybe you should sit down a little while," Grissom noted with concern as Nick took in another ragged breath.

"I´m okay," Nick said not so convincingly and Grissom shrugged. He knew when not to push the man.

"Then at least stay here."

"Where're you going?" Nick asked with a frown and Grissom nodded toward one of the cameras.

"Do you realize they are on every corner? And he´ll still know where we are."

"Yes, but not what we´re doing. Give me the flashlight." Nick relented and while Grissom took care of both cameras in their near vicnity, he leaned against the wall and slowly slid down into a sitting position. He didn't planned on falling asleep but the darkness and quiet, combined with the eerie tiredness he felt lulled him into a slight slumber. He startled awake when Grissom touched his shoulder, and apologizing, rubbed the sleep off his eyes.

"Sorry, just zoned out," Nick mumbled and was about to stand, when Grissom pushed him back down. He was about to protest, when he saw Grissom shake his head and put up a finger to his mouth to indicate silence. Nick, his eyes getting wide from the sudden rush of fear, simply nodded. Getting the reply, Grissom turned off the flashlight and Nick felt him move next to him, still standing but getting as close to the wall as it was possible.

For a moment, Nick didn´t hear anything but the beating of his heart. Then Grissom squeezed his shoulder, as much to assure him as to still his movements. Nick swallowed and tried to relax, but his good hand slid under the jacket and he pulled his gun from the holster.

From the web of the corridors, they could hear several running footsteps. Grissom supressed a sigh when he realised they were heading towards them.

xxxx

Sara was alone and she couldn´t do a thing about it. Her captor left several minutes earlier with her ID card smeared with God knows what and she could only watch in silence as he moved toward her friends. At first she saw Grissom and Nick get out of the elevator, but they soon turned the cameras off and she lost them from her sight, though she knew they were still near the elevators, because the other cameras worked. Well, all but the ones by the staircase, which were "gently" turned off by Brass. Although she felt relief over the fact that they were still alive and obviously looking for her, she was afraid it would take too long and something really bad would happen.

Sara watched with trepidation how the man lurked through the corridors, once or twice only barely missing Brass and Kevin. He had a chance to simply shoot them from behind, but didn´t do it and that told Sara more about his motives than anything the man said before her.

He was clearly out for revenge, though it wasn´t clear against whom - as they were all targets at some time. The man had a plan and until now was probably keeping to it. But the arrival of Warrick and Catherine brought on a problem. Maybe not unexpected, but surely not welcome. As Sara dared a look at the monitor taking in the open area before the building, she couldn´t help but cringe as she saw the precarious situation the other CSIs were in.

She was so engrossed with it, she didn´t hear the door open. When the hand landed on her shoulder, it was too late to react. Sara looked up with wide eyes, trying hard to stop her heart from jumping off her chest. But the face looking down at her wasn´t the one she awaited.

xxxx

They were running through the corridors, following some ghostly figure who was just too fast for them and knew the complex too good. Detective Jim Brass was in the lead, not really thinking about anything just that he wanted that man - wanted to know why this was all happening.

Kevin wanted to know it, too, but not at the expense of his own life and he slowed down enough to see they were probably somewhere in the middle, completely lost. And there was not much keeping him from losing Brass from his sight either.

Brass knew his past wasn´t ideal and that when he left New Jersey, he also abandoned several angry people. If he didn´t count his own family - wife and two daughters, there was probably a whole police department left. The department he helped to clean up.

Yeah, dirty cops took away several years of his life but he took so much more from them. Their work, their families and in some cases, their freedom. He never regretted it though the action cost him more than he bargained for. First his own reputation - there was not many cops left who liked him after the trials and truth be told, he didn´t wonder. Most dirty cops were in reality cool guys, having plenty of good friends. That didn´t help them in the end - not with all the things Brass found on them, but still... Jim Brass quickly become persona non grata and in the end, it cost him almost as much as those dirty cops. He lost his family.

But it was all twenty years ago, and he had moved on. Las Vegas welcomed him with open arms, as much as it welcomed every other loser. He didn´t play, despite the urge to simply stop and drink away the pain, to drink away the feeling of betrayal. Why did everyone hate him when he just did his job?

Brass didn´t give into temptation, though, and he soon discovered that the best way to forget was to work. Now, after twenty years, he finally found something he could call family again - the other one. The group of people who he worked with. Even though after the death of Holly Gribbs he found himself been thrown out of the CSI, he had become a detective and to his own surprise, he enjoyed the job even more. He was a cop after all - and putting the bad guys behind bars was one thing he really missed.

Today, though, there was someone from his very own past, threatening those people who trusted him with their lives everytime they were on the scene, someone who probably wanted only him. And he felt the engulfing need to get them all the hell out of here, before they get hurt. Because Brass doubted he could find his peace ever again, if something happened to them today.

"Detective!" Kevin practically shouted after Brass when he lost him from his sight. He wanted to stop, to get a second to catchhis breath and for the man to acknowledge that they lost the suspect several minutes ago. But Jim Brass didn´t stop and Kevin was left in darkness, panting for breath somewhere on the crossing of three corridors. Cursing his "boss" as well as his own eagerness that got him into this mess in the first place, Kevin looked around - as much as a person could in utter darkness. He still heard the footsteps, now quickly retreating from him and couldn´t think how a foolish, grumpy man like Brass could made it to detective.

Shaking his head in frustration, the young man leaned against the wall, his eyes resting on the line of light. It took him several seconds to realize what he was seeing and he rubbed at his eyes, making sure it wasn´t just his imagination playing games with him. The light stayed and he followed it to the door. Debating whether to try and find the detective, Kevin snorted. As if he had a chance to locate the man in this labyrinth.

With all the courage of a 24-year-old guy, his hand blindly groped for the handle. Without thinking, Kevin pushed the door open - first uncertainly, then with more force as it gave way. He practically stumbled into the lit room with his gun ready. But there was no one to shoot at - the room was empty. Well, as empty as a laboratory room could be. There were microscopes, computers, even a centrifuge. Only one thing, though, was familiar to him and Kevin quickly walked through the room. There, on the counter right next the mini fridge was an ID card. It looked greasy, but Kevin didn´t notice - he was too focused on the photo and the name below it. The card belonged to one Criminal Science Investigator Sara Sidle and without a second thought, Kevin picked it up.

xxxx

"Damn it," Warrick cursed as another series of shots sent a spray of shards from the rock behind which they were hiding. Catherine already learned she should stay low, but Warrick from time to time raised his head and looked out.

"Well, what´s your plan, Mister?" she asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm. They tried in vain to get the man distracted again by the bag, but he obviously wasn´t so stupid. The moment they waved with the bag, the man started shooting at the other side of the boulder.

"I thought about waiting it out. You know, he shouldn´t have much more ammo left. He´s been shooting at us for the last hour."

"It´s only been ten minutes, Warrick," Catherine corrected and Warrick threw her a grimace.

"Feels like forever, though. Well, it´s not like he could do much harm to us from there..."

"Not to say what happened to the others, though. For all we know, they could be hurt, or-" Catherine´s voice hitched but they both knew what she couldn´t say.

"I don´t think they´re dead, Cath. But you´re right - they need help."

Another round of shots died away and they were left in the eerie silence of the night. Warrick once again tried his cell, without success. He didn´t even curse now, just put the useless thing back into his pocket with resignation. Help wasn´t coming anytime soon and he hated to think over the possibilities for the others. Were they really alright?

He once again poked out his head and was rather surprised there were no shots coming. He squinted, trying to make out the details of the building, maybe spot some movement, but all he saw were blurry, unmoving shadows and the stars above them.

Warrick risked waving with his hand, then turned to Catherine, who was watching him with a frown of her own.

"What´s going on?"

"Dunno. Maybe he really doesn´t have any ammo left."

"Or he´s just trying to get us out of hiding, then kill us."

"Could be," Warrick nodded, then popped out his head to take another look. He tensed as he saw a shadow move on the farthest side of the building. Warrick watched the figure slowly creeping toward the parked cars.

"He´s trying to get away!" he realised and before Catherine could stop him, Warrick left the safety of the boulder and took off running.

"Warrick!" she hissed, too afraid to scream, but too angry to just stay where she was. "Damn the man!" she cursed and followed him.

xxxXXXxxx

He lost the killer as well as the rookie and with a disgusted snort, Brass had to admit that he lost himself, too, in the labyrinth of the corridors. For Christ´s sake, he was an experienced cop, yet all the tension and stress of the last hours turned his brain into an useless mass. At least, that was what Brass thought as he stopped in yet another crossing.

Why didn´t Kevin keep up? Or was he really so concentrated on the task that he didn´t notice the kid was missing?

There was also the possibility that Kevin didn´t vanish on his own - that he was taken out by the killer. At the thought, Brass felt his stomach lurch and he tried to swallow the acidic taste of failure. He had to start thinking, Brass reminded himself and nodded as if in silent response, his jaw clenched.

He was sure he heard the steps so that meant someone indeed was on this floor. He also knew it wasn´t Grissom or Nick - they wouldn´t be running wildly through the corridors - not like him, Brass added with bitterness.

Well, Kevin knew that they were looking for the other CSI´s and their plan was to get to the elevators. If the kid just lost Brass from his sight, he would probably head there. And Brass should do the same.

Finally Brass choose his path, hoping he took the right turn.

xxxx

It was weird. The first set of footsteps faded away before they could even sense the person, but their relief was short lived. Nick was suddenly glad for the support the wall gave him, but he would´ve rather been standing - a much better position to fend off a possible attack.

Grissom next to him felt ridiculous, standing in the darkness and waiting for whomever had lured them to this place. He felt unprepared for the situation and when the first steps died away, he almost panicked, thinking his own hearing was betraying him at the worst possible moment. But then he felt Nick beside him relax a little.

"Shouldn´t we... move?" Nick asked in whisper and despite his protesting body, stood up.

"Yeah," was all Grissom said. Truth be told, he wasn´t sure what they should be doing anymore. He thought Nick shouldn´t be moving around at all, but then it wasn´t like they had a choice. And there were still the others. It troubled him that they didn´t encounter any one of them. He would´ve thought at least Brass was trying to find them.

"Which way then?" Nick asked and Grissom needed a second to realise he was asked a question.

"Straight ahead. If there´s someone on this floor, we should learn who it is."

"Could be the second guard," Nick muttered as they slowly moved out. Grissom hadn´t turned on the flashlight yet and Nick wasn´t about to ask him to. Somehow, the darkness felt safer than the light.

"Or the killer," Grissom noted and Nick rolled his eyes, but said nothing more. Grissom was walking ahead of Nick so he could warn him if there was something in the way. Thanks to that, after three minutes of walking, Grissom sported several new bruises and was having to bite his lip not to curse each time he bumped into something. After a moment, he thought he heard the younger CSI behind him snicker, but Grissom quickly waved it off as a hallucination. Nick wouldn´t possibly laugh at his misery, he thought.

Despite his hopes, Nick was laughing. He heard how Grissom tried to muffle the yelp, as his knee connected with a door or when a loud thump announced that Grissom´s head just discovered a fire extinguisher. For a moment, Nick imagined his chief, the almighty genius, standing before the group of CSIs and trying to explain just how he got the bump on his head, while making a good impression of a guide-dog.

But it wasn´t funny, Nick realised after a moment, when his hand throbbed painfully and he was having a problem with what was up and what was down. Being lightheaded was one thing - having the world swaying when you were practically blind was another. Nick reached out with his good hand and trailed the surface of the wall, hoping to get some sense of direction. It was useless, though, he realised as he tripped over his own leg. The only thing stopping his fall was Grissom.

"Whoa there, I think you should sit for a moment," Grissom said in not more than a whisper, one hand circling Nick´s wrist, the other one supporting his body. He felt the quick but stronge pulse under his fingers and relaxed a little, the memory of reviving Nick still fresh in his mind. He guided the man into a sitting position, taking notice of the slightly flushed skin and once again cursed the fact that they ended up in such a position.

"Gris-!" Nick suddenly warned and Grissom could feel him tense up, ready to bolt. He too wasn´t calm as he turned to see what spooked Nick so much. First thing he saw was the shine of a flashlight appearing at the end of the corridor. It had to be L-shaped because the person using the flashlight was obviously around the corner. Grissom instantly realised that if the person turned the corner, the flashlight would reveal them. They had nowhere to hide and Nick was in no condition to go running. The second thing he realised was that he needed to get to the corner first and surprise whomever was was no other choice and he didn't wanted to play the role of victim anymore. It was time to turn the tables in their favor.

"Shh," Grissom hissed at Nick, squeezing his shoulder, making him aware he should stay put. In the next moment, he was scurrying toward the corner as silently as he could and Nick could only pray that he would get there sooner than the other person.

xxxx

He thought he heard voices, but when he paused to listen, there was nothing, only the sound of his own breathing. Brass shook his head and threw a look back into the darkness, feeling the tingling feeling crawling up his spine. He couldn´t help but shudder and resume his pace.

He no longer bothered with the cameras, his only concern was to find out what happened to the others and who was behind all of this.

The hat badge he found in the victim´s mouth was clear enough evidence that it had something to do with his past. Duty, honor, fidelity - those were the words every cop from New Jersey knew. But why after all these years - and who?

Brass was trying to think hard about the suspects, but his mind came up blank. At the time he left Jersey, there were too many cops that hated him. But only a few would hold a grudge and come to get him after twenty years.

And that also didn´t explain the body of the guard. Why kill an innocent man when it was so easy to just deal with Brass himself? It didn´t make sense, and Jim didn´t had the time to figure it out.

He was about to turn the corner, when someone tackled him to the ground, sending the flashlight flying from his hand. Half shocked by the fact he let himself be caught, half stunned by the fact he was lying on the floor and trying to fend off a fist, Brass reacted just a second too late.

The fist landed on his face. The pain in his cheek was enough to bring the detective out of his stupor and he blocked the other a blow, before kicking out and sending his attacker through the air. In the next second he was sitting on the top of the man, the gun pushed against his neck.

"Move and I´ll kill you," he growled, his voice dripping with venom. Nobody could think he wasn´t serious.

"Jim?" the shaky question didn´t came from the man under him, but from someone standing several feet before him. Brass blinked, his breath caught as another flashlight was turned on and pointed right at him.

"Damn it, Nicky, I told you not to shine that thing at my face," he grumbled, recognizing the voice of the younger CSI. Looking now down, he grimaced.

"Gil," he let out a sigh and put away the gun. Suddenly, he had an urge to laugh, but seeing the wide-eyes look on his old friends face, he contained himself. "Damn, but you can pack a punch," he said with a smirk as he helped Grissom up to his feet.

"Likewise," Grissom replied, while he rubbed his stomach, where the detective´s foot caught him.

"Sara?" Nick asked, looking at the corridor behind Brass. His heart was beating too fast and he had trouble catching his breath, though he didn´t know if it was just the adrenaline rush wearing off, or the side effects of the shock. For now, though, he opted to speak in shorter terms.

"She isn´t with you," it was more of a statement than a question and Nick let out a frustrated sigh.

"Nope."

"Where is Kevin? Wasn´t he with you the last time?" Grissom spoke up, taking the light from Nick´s hand.

"I lost him." The simple statement brought two shocked "what?" and Brass frowned, until he realised what the two men thought.

"No, he isn´t dead. At least, I hope not," he added. "We were coming after you guys when we heard some footsteps. I took off running, but it seems that Kevin wasn´t able to keep up."

"Are you sure he wasn´t attacked?" Grissom asked seriously.

"No, I am not sure!" Brass barked, then shook his head in frustration. "Look, there are some things you should probably know. Before the whole building started acting up, we found the body of the guard in the storage room," Brass started explaining. He told them everything that happened from the moment they separated, everything but the badge that connected him with the victim.

"So no word about Sara and Jenkins?" Nick asked again when Brass finished. The first energy rush upon encountering Brass faded away and suddenly he felt tired. Brass noticed it and for the first time looked at Nick.

"No. But what the hell happened to you, Nicky?" he took in the bandaged hand and the haggard look and definitely didn´t like what he saw.

"Didn´t look where I was touching," Nick quickly replied, and before Grissom could say anything, he added: "I'm fine."

"Sure," came the snort from both Grissom and Brass.

"I take it you didn´t encounter any booby traps on your way here," Grissom spoke, looking pointedly at Nick.

"Booby traps?" Brass frowned. "What the hell are you talking about? And what happened to Nick?"

"We found that some of the doors on the first floor were under current. Well, Nick found out."

"Oh God," Brass all but paled at the implication, then as suddenly his face turned an angry red. "That bastard!" he all but shouted at the nearest camera.

Nick cringed and Grissom´s eyebrows went up, his head slightly tilting to the right.

"Jim, is there something you´re not telling us?" Grissom asked after a moment, giving Brass some time to calm down.

"I found something at the body. It was a New Jersey police hat badge. I-" Brass stuttered, nervously running his hand through his balding head, "I think it´s someone from my past."

xxxx

It was going as planned, the man smiled to himself when he shook loose of the detective at one of the corridors. He arranged the ID card before that and was hoping that Brass would be the one to find it, but the damn man was too thickheaded to stop and notice the light in the room.

But when the man was heading back to the control room, he took an alternate route and the risk that came with it and saw the slightly opened door to the lab. Grinning from ear to ear, he saw as the young cop found the ID and rushed out of the room, blindly running into one of the darkest corridors.

The cop should feel the effects of the drug in the following minutes. The man only hoped that Brass would be the one to find him. Speeding up so he could watch it on the monitors, the man came to the door of the control room.

Everything was going like planned, he smirked and opened the door.

His hand froze on the handle and he let out a shriek. This definitely wasn´t in the plan! The chair was laying on the ground, the remains of the duct tape the only evidence of his captive´s previous presence. Most of the monitors were broken, the shards of glass covering the floor.

The computer screen was blank. And the room was empty.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta-reader: Sabrina

She would´ve screamed if not for the tape on her mouth. When the hand touched her shoulder, Sara´s heart skipped a beat. But when she saw the face looking down at her, she briefly closed her eyes and thanked that her prayers were heard.

Jenkins wasn´t losing any time when he cut through the tapes binding her to the chair and Sara didn´t so much as gasp when the offending tape was pulled off her face. Rubbing at the irritated skin, she still threw Jenkins one of her best smiles.

"Thanks," she said, her voice a little raspy from not using it the last hours. Sara coughed, clearing her throat, then shot a glance at the monitors, relieved to see that her captor was still in one of the corridors.

"You´re welcome," Jenkins simply said. When she gave him a second look, she saw the dried blood on the side of his head and the small lines around his eyes indicating he had one hell of a headache, but other than that, Jenkins looked to be in good shape. "Come on, we have to go," he said and started pulling her away, but Sara stopped him, her smile turning into an icy glare.

"We have to stop him," she said, convinced that they need to stay. "Or he'll kill the others."

"I'm sure the others are quite capable of taking care of themselves," Jenkins opposed but quickly corrected himself: "I mean, that my first priority is to get you out of here, then we can think of helping them. This man is dangerous - and he isn´t alone. Your other friends are in trouble, too, and I think we could help them more."

"Warrick and Cath," Sara muttered, her face blanching at the mention of the two. She already lost them from sight of the camera and had no way of knowing what happened to them. Curtly, she nodded.

"Okay. But first I need to do something." With that, she picked up the chair and with all her strength and anger, swung it at the monitors. Jenkins cringed at the sound of the breaking glass and the sparks that suddenly flared from the electronics. He glanced at the doors and really prayed that it wouldn't open until they were gone.

Satisfied that the monitors were broken and of no use anymore, Sara quickly leaned over the keyboard. She had the chance to watch her captor add several commands so she had a pretty good idea of the system he was using. Her fingers running through the keyboard, she pushed off Jenkins, who was once again trying to get her away.

The cop growled and nervously gripped his gun. Sure, they could´ve waited here and he could probably subdue the other man with his gun. But there was still the other guy and now that they lost the cameras, thanks to Sidle´s little revenge, they couldn´t know what was going on.

"Uhm, just how did you get here?" Sara suddenly asked, turning away from the computer. "There was no way you could´ve found this room and not be seen on the cameras."

"Well, I used a little shortcut," Jenkins said with a sheepish grin.

"Huh?"

At Sara´s confused stare, Jenkins pointed toward the only other door in the room.

"You came from the toilet?" Now she was openly frowning at him and Jenkins snickered.

"Toilet? No, it´s an elevator. I discovered it in the security room on the ground floor, you know, where we were heading when..."

"Cool," Sara exclaimed as she opened the door and saw the small car. "Oh, but it´s a little small, isn´t it?"

"Well, it´s obviously for one person, but I'm sure we'll manage." Sara rolled her eyes, but didn´t comment, rather she returned to the computer and gave it a final command. With that, the screen went blank.

"What did you do?"

"No time to explain. If you want to use that car, we need to do it fast." With that, she walked inside it. Jenkins didn´t give it a second thought before he joined her.

"Uh, it´s kinda crowded," he tried to joke as the car door closed and he towered over Sara. She blinked as she felt his body touching her, but anything she would´ve said was stopped when the soft humming announced that they were moving.

xxxx

Warrick Brown wasn´t a soldier, nor did he claim to be one. But the streets taught him enough to know how to survive and even though he wasn´t moving through a crowd of people in the city of Las Vegas, he knew his way around. And obviously, their sniper didn´t. If the man had any real experience, he would´ve stayed on his post and waited. But something spooked him and now he was trying to get away. Well, Warrick wasn´t about to let him go.

Moving like a shadow, even his tall form couldn´t stop him from getting lost in the darkness. He was now only a few feet from the building and the cover it offered. The last time he saw the sniper move, he was heading toward the parked cars. Warrick knew they were probably the same distance between them. Even if he didn't manage to get to them first, it didn´t matter. He had his gun and was sure he could use it in a better way than the sniper.

As he silenty made his way toward the cars, he thought how ridiculous the whole situation was. Someone wanted to kill them and he didn´t have a clue as to why. It also troubled him that there was no sign of the others. How possibly could three CSIs and a detective get lost? Or were they in too deep trouble? If so, the sniper didn´t have much to do with it. That meant only one thing - there was at least one more threat inside the building.

Warrick turned around the corner, finally getting a clear sight of the front of the building, with the entry door. He could see that it was dark inside, the flickering lights died away sometime earlier, while he and Catherine were trying not to get hit.

The area was empty. The cars were in their places, but there was no one trying to get in. No motion, no sound. Warrick tensed, his back to the wall.

"Maybe he isn´t so stupid after all," he thought, frowning into the darkness and trying to spot some movement.

There weren´t too many places where a man could hide. If he didn´t get inside the building, which Warrick doubted because the sniper was clearly intent on getting away, there were only the three cars. Or if the sniper was really fast, there were several smaller boulders to the right from the building. Warrick swalloved a curse as he realised his own mistake. Still, the darkness was protecting him, but that was only until the sniper looked into the night vision.

As if the thought alone initiated the action, Warrick saw the telltale red light moving across the wall, quickly making it´s way toward his chest. Not losing time, Warrick fell to the ground before the sniper saw him in his night vision sight and could use his gun. For several seconds, the tall CSI now lay still on the ground and once again breathed in the dirt. He could almost hear the confused thoughts of the shooter, but he resisted the urge to smirk. Maybe he bought himself a minute or two, but that was not nearly enough. Slowly and as silently as it was possible, Warrick started to crawl - right toward the sniper.

xxxx

Catherine was starting to get fed up with all the macho things her colleagues were doing for the sake of a case. It wasn´t enough that she saw Warrick being shot (even though there was no more than a bruise left), now he had to run off, right into the sight of the sniper.

At first she followed him, but then she realised it would be stupid for both of them to take the same path. She still had a feeling it could be a trap. And as she slowed down, she had enough time to see the shadow lurking and waiting for Warrick. She opened her mouth to shout a warning, but then she lost Warrick from her sight. He just vanished in the darkness, merging with the night.

The sniper fervently searched for his victim, and Catherine was getting closer and closer to his back.

xxxx

He didn´t know what was going on. One minute he was on the ground, looking for the guy who was supposed to follow him here, the next thing he saw was movement two yards ahead of him. He awkwardly moved the rifle, trying to adjust it the best he could in a split second, but the man was just too close to him.

He shot out blindly, then rolled over, just in time before Warrick jumped, and landed several feet from the place where his head was. The sniper saw the gun in his hand, but wasn´t ready to capitulate. He grabbed a handful of dirt and threw it into the cop´s face. When Warrick started blinking, his eyes watering, the sniper used the second and kicked out, catching Warrick in the knee, which quickly gave away.

The sniper launched himself at Warrick and they started fighting. Each of them landed several succesful blows, but the sniper was smaller and obviously not so experienced in fighting. Warrick managed to land two good blows and subdue the man. He quickly turned the man on his stomach and knelt on his back to stop him from any movement.

"Need any help?" Catherine asked with a smirk. She watched the fight and was ready to intervene at any moment, but it wasn´t needed in the end. Warrick glanced at her then shook his head, snorting.

"You know you could´ve just told - Police, freeze! two minutes ago. I am sure he would´ve just listened to you."

"Oh, but what would be the fun in that?" Catherine jibed. Not waiting for a reply, she threw Warrick a pair of handcuffs. Once being secured, Warrick turned their sniper over and Catherine used her flashlight to take a look at the stranger's face.

"God, it´s just a kid," she mumbled and shook her head in disgust.

"Yeah, but a kid that was ready to kill us," Warrick reminded her, then looked into a pair of wide open eyes. "Now you will tell us what´s going on here, before I show you how it feels to get shot."

xxxx

When he rushed out of the laboratory, the ID card was still in his hand. Kevin unconsciously rubbed his hands against his pants, trying to get rid of the prickling sensation that started in his fingertips. He hadn´t paid much attention to it. He started running, the drug already coursing through his system, as his heartbeat became faster, pumping the blood right into his brain.

At first he didn´t realise something was wrong. It was impossible to keep up the speed in the dark corridors and Kevin didn t even know why he was running. Slowing down, the young cop tried to get together his thoughts. He now knew that Sara Sidle, one of the CSIs, was captured - if not outright murdered - by the killer. He really needed to tell it to detective Brass, but how was he supposed to find him?

That was when one of the shadows moved and Kevin involuntarily yelped. It wasn´t a movement any normal person would do. The shadow practically floew through the air several yards in one smooth jump, then vanished around the corner. Kevin swalloved and headed toward it - more carefully than he thought was possible. All of a sudden, he felt goosebumps enveloping his whole body and he tried in vain to shake it off. The air became humid and unbelievably hot and Kevin´s lips felt parched.

"What the hell is wrong with me?" Kevin silently asked himself as he turned the corner. It looked empty and Kevin let out a sigh. "It was just your imagination, Kev," he thought, but before he could relax, the shadow appeared again. This time, it had more of a human conture, but the white glow coming from it was just too eerie for Kevin to handle.

"S-stop!" he shouted, aiming his gun at the shadow. But it only gave an unearthy laugh and vanished, leaving Kevin alone in the corridor.

The shiver running through his spine warned Kevin that someone was behind his back and he spun around - only to see nothing. His breathing became faster as his body tried to handle the stress and although he felt as if he should be drenched in sweat right now, his skin was dry.

Kevin blinked and tried to calm down.

"It´s nothing, just your imagination," he mumbled to himself and for a moment thought that it would work. Then something behind him crashed and he spun around with a yelp. Kevin blinked, not quite believing his eyes. The walls were moving. At first they were just shimmering, like in scifi movies with all the teleportation stuff, then they started to dance and Kevin swayed, trying to gain his balance. It was to no avail. The walls just kept coming closer, the shadows slowly but surely descending on him.

Kevin´s fingers curled around the cold handle of the gun, and he squeezed the trigger. Once, twice... but nothing changed. The sound of the shots reverberated inside his skull long after he fired the last bullet.

He didn´t hear the voices calling at him. The only thing he sensed was the sickening feeling in his stomach. Then he gasped as a sharp light pierced through his brain and Kevin couldn´t hold it anymore. He screamed.

xxxXXXxxx

"What do you mean - it´s someone from your past?" Nick asked rather startled by the admission. He couldn´t grasp why someone from Brass´ past would target the other CSIs, nor did he understood how Brass could say it and look so calm.

But in reality, Jim Brass was anything but calm and Grissom knew that.

"Jim, do you know who may be behind this?" he asked in a quiet tone.

"That´s just it, Grissom. I had too much enemies back in Jersey to know which one this is," Brass replied frustrated and Nick wondered just what Brass had done. He knew almost nothing about the detective´s past, not more than he had two daughters, one of whom at one time was a suspect in a murder case.

"What did you do to piss them off so much?"

Grissom shot him a warning glare, but Nick just shrugged it off. He didn´t have the energy nor the mind to be polite.

"I put some people behind bars. Obviously, cops don´t really like to be in jail," Brass replied hoarsely. Nick nodded in silent acknowledgment.

"Any one giving you more trouble than the others?" Grissom asked and Brass barely supressed the sceptical grin. It was like looking through a haystack. But even there he remembered the not so subtle warning he got from Josh in the parking lot and suddenly it was the only person he could think of.

"Josh Brennan. He was a cop too, but I arrested his brother - Steve. He promised revenge, but then I left the city and never heard from him. But Steve got ten years... he was supposed to get out some twelve years ago, if he wasn´t causing trouble. He surely wouldn´t wait so long just to get even with me."

"You never know, Jim. He could´ve come to Vegas for a game and saw you. What do you know about him?"

Brass shrugged, trying to push off the annoyance he felt above their current situation and the fact that he was questioned by Grissom.

"We worked together for a year or so. He was a detective, actually he was a higher rank than me. I thought he was a good cop until I got contacted by the guys from IA and saw photos of him taking money from a dealer. I didn´t believe them, but then... we had this really hard case. Double murder and Steve Brennan was the head of the investigation. Some evidence get lost. Brennan had accused another cop, a young rookie. He was pulled off the case." Brass sighed, thinking about how that rookie reminded him of Kevin. Both were so damn eager to be a good cop. Now he felt a tinge of regret, knowing all he was doing tonight was snapping at the kid.

"The boy wasn´t about to sacrifice his own career. He was too eager to be a good cop. He got a hunch and followed it - alone. We found his body two days later at the place of the original crime scene. He had-" Brass swallowed, his eyes flicking through the hall when he remembered the body two floors above them. "-several stab wounds. It was a violent attack. Just like the guard up here-" he didn´t finish because the lights went on. Blinking hard, all three man instinctively crouched, expecting an attack.

"What the hell?" Nick exclaimed and he cocked his head to the side. "You heard that?"

Brass silently nodded. He too heard the click of the nearby door and automatically turned his gun on it. But the handle didn´t move and the detective´s brow furrowed.

Grissom was the first to realize there was no one in the hall and that this time the lights came on for a different reason, not just to taunt them. He walked up to the door and pulled on the gloves he found earlier. Ignoring how ridiculous he looked with them, he reached out to the handle. The door opened with ease. But there was nothing inside the room.

At least the lights were on - not flickering like before and driving them mad. As they tried several other doors, they realised that the clicking sound they heard was the one of the locking mechanism. But before they could even think about the implications, a sound of shooting tore through the air, followed by a desperate scream.

xxxx

"Ouch!" the sniper protested as Catherine smacked him on the head.

"Don´t play with us boy!" Catherine warned him and Warrick hid the smirk with a cough. Right now, Cath´s tone was that of an angry mother, but he was sure there weren´t any positive feelings toward their attacker.

"Maybe you think you can get away with shooting at people just because you look like a kid. Well, let me tell you, you won´t."

Suddenly the fear in the sniper´s face turned into a hateful glare, wiping off the youngish look.

"Go to hell!" he spat, but didn´t react in time and he caught another smack.

"Watch your tongue!" Catherine warned him. This time his only reply was a snort.

"Why were you shooting at us?" Warrick asked and to drive home his point, put the gun to the sniper´s neck. Silence.

"Well?"

"I want a lawyer," he gritted through his teeth and this time it was Warrick who snorted.

"Sure. You can get one at the station. But right now, I don´t see any around."

"I am not talking without a lawyer. I have my rights."

"Cath, why don´t you go a little further - check the perimeter, perhaps?"

"Why?" she asked, confused.

"Oh, I just need to have a little talk with this boy. Don´t need any witness for that."

Catherine raised her eyebrows. She was about to protest but then she caught the frightened look on the boy's face, and she simply nodded.

"Whatever you want. But Warrick - be careful. It won´t do us any good if he ended up like the last one."

"L-last one?" the question came out as a croak and Cath almost spoiled the effect by laughing, but she quickly recovered.

"Like I said Rick - aim good. He´s too young for a wheelchair," and with that, she walked away.

Warrick watched as the boy swallowed, his face covered in cold sweat. The brave look was long gone, instead there was a pair of ridiculously wide eyes watching him.

"Talk. Or I swear I´ll shoot you in the leg. Hey, you can even choose which one you prefer," he added with a fake smile.

"N-no, you ca-can´t shoot me," the boy stuttered.

"Try me. Now spill. Who are you?"

"C-collin," seeing the frown on the CSIs face, he quickly added: "Brennan. Collin Brennan."

"Okay, Collin. Now why were you shooting at us?"

"H-he said so. I really don´t wanted to kill you, I swear."

"Somehow I find it hard to believe you, Collin. One of your bullets ended up in my backpack. Who is he?"

"M-my uncle.D-don´t hurt him please. He just..." Collin nervously bit into his lip and squirmed on the ground.

"What did he want?" Warrick pressed, having a creepy feeling that time was of the essence to his friends.

"Revenge for my father!" the boy blurted out. Before Warrick could asked him more, something crackled and the CSI startled.

"I-it´s just the radio," Collin said, afraid that the man would shoot him for nothing.

"How? Our cells don't work," Warrick asked confused, while searching in the boy's pockets for the radio.

"This is the only frequency that works, the others are jammed."

"Collin!" Warrick was already holding the radio when a male voice yelled on the other end.

"T-that´s him," Colling said fearfully.

"Talk to him. But remember - one wrong word..."

"Yeah. Can you take off my handcuffs, please?"

Warrick simply shook his head and held the radio near Collin´s face. He pushed the button to transmit and nodded.

"Yeah?" Colling asked, sounding almost normal.

"About time!" the voice on the other side yelled. "Did you get them?"

Collin blinked and turned at Warrick, who mouthed the reply.

"Y-yes, they´re dead."

"Good. Are you still there?"

"Near the cars. Why?"

"I need you to stay here. I think there will be some more coming up. Get rid of them, got it?"

"But, I thought you wanted me gone," Collin noted, frowning at the change of plans. His uncle promised him he wouldn't have to kill anyone, that he was just a backup. Now he was asking him to kill more people?

"Plans change and I need you here! Now shut up and find a good position." With that, he ended the contact, leaving Collin to face the CSIs.

"Okay, now you´ll tell me exactly what is going on in that building. Every detail."

xxxx

Nick simply wasn´t able to keep up with the pace the others set. His heart was beating too fast and he couldn´t get his breathing under control. Not to mention that all that running jostled his bad hand and it felt like it was on fire. He also felt like he could drink a gallon of water and still be thirsty.

But here he was, his run quickly changing into a trot until he stopped altogether. But it wasn´t the need to take a break that stopped him, but the sight laying before him.

Both Brass and Grissom were standing rigidly at the crossing of the corridors. He was about to ask why they didn´t continue, when he saw Kevin, the young rookie. Nick paused, his mouth open in surprise. Kevin was crouching on the ground, waving his gun around and shaking in fear. His eyes were jerkily scanning the place, unable to focus on anything. He looked as if he was surrounded by his worst nightmare, but Nick saw that the corridors were empty. There was absolutely nothing to cause such fear.

"What´s wrong with him?" Nick whispered, voice tight with concern.

"I think he´s drugged," Grissom replied in the same hushed tone. Nick frowned, but then he caught a glance at Kevin´s eyes and saw the dilated pupils. He nodded.

"How many bullets left?" Nick nervously watched the gun that was waving alarmingly in the drugged man´s hand. He remembered the shots fired out, but in his haste didn´t count them.

"Seven," Brass said a little too loud and cringed as Kevin suddenly turned at him. Sweat was trickling down his neck and his lips were twitching ever so slightly as he gave out a growl and fired. Brass dove to the ground, not having time to do much else. Thankfully, Kevin´s aim was pretty off and the bullets ended in the wall, but it was still to close to anyone´s liking.

"Four left," Nick mumbled as he too crouched down. Grissom was the only one left standing, mostly because he simply didn´t have anywhere to hide. So he just stood there, a gun in one hand, the other slowly making it´s way to the air, palm open in an unthreatening gesture.

"Kevin, it´s okay," he spoke, hoping that the young man wasn´t too deep in his hallucination.

"Get away from me!" Kevin screamed and to make his point, he fired another two shots.

"Down!" Nick shouted and without thinking grabbed at Grissom´s jacket, pulling his boss to the ground. Grissom fell to the floor with a grunt, momentarily stunned.

Brass cursed and tightened his grip around his own gun, breathing hard. He was cursing his own stupidity at letting the kid out of his sight. And now he had dragged Nick and Grissom right into the middle of a shooting range. He eyed his gun but shook his head, knowing that he would use it only as a last resort. He knew there were only two more bullets left. If Kevin fired two more times, they could easily disable him. But what if he finally managed to hit someone?

"Nick, Grissom - get the hell away from there!" he hissed, finally making up his mind. He would take care of Kevin, but he needed to know the two CSIs were out of harm's way. They still had to find Sara and Jenkins.

"Nick, go," Grissom said as he was getting off the floor, deliberately pulling himself closer to the wall, so he was now practically out of Kevin´s sight.

"No way!" Nick retorted, suddenly angry. Despite what Grissom thought, he was capable of handling the situation. For a moment he forgot the fact that he was injured and that maybe that was the real reason why both men ordered him away. Instead he felt angry that they could think he would just leave.

He faced the scowl that Grissom shot him and was sure he would pay for it later in the lab, but he didn´t relent and a second felt triumph when Grissom said: "Keep your head down."


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta-reader: Sabrina

"Kevin, it´s okay," one of the shadows spoke and he could feel the sarcasm behind the words. The shadows were closing in on him - big, and oh so scary. Suddenly Kevin felt like a six year old again, crouching in the corner of his room, hiding from the monsters. At that time, it was his older brother in his halloween mask scaring him to death, but Jimmy wasn´t there anymore and Kevin knew his older brother wouldn´t be capable of making the walls move.

One of the shadows moved closer to him, the hand changing into a claw that was just too big to be real. But nothing seemed real anymore and Kevin did the only thing he could - he started shooting.

He could feel the coppery taste of bloodin his mouth and smell the laughter filling the air. His bullets missed their target, the clawed shadow vanishing.

Only the laughter stayed - hard and unmerciful. He heard it inside his skull - that ridiculous sound, and he screamed out in frustration.

Everyone was making fun of him - even the shadows, the walls... the whole building. Feeling the rage building inside him, Kevin spun around, grabbing at his head.

"Shut up! Shut up!" he screamed with all his pent up rage. "Stop laughing at me! Just stop-" he shouted, almost pleading.

"Kevin!" Nick shouted out warningly. He watched as the confused man grabbed at his head, holding the gun dangerously close to his head. It would´ve taken no more than a twitch of his index finger, and Kevin would´ve effectively stopped the hallucinations - forever.

Gritting his teeth, Nick made a move toward the rookie, but was stopped by Grissom.

"What?" Nick hissed but Grissom didn´t release his hold on him, just shook his head.

"He´s too unstable right now. You go any closer and he won´t need to be aiming to hit you."

Nick blinked, then let out a frustrated sigh.

"We can´t just wait until the drug clears his bloodstream, we wait until then, he might end up either killing himself or someone else."

"Only two bullets left, Nicky," Brass muttered and Nick startled. He totally forgot the other man was there too, and hadn't seen him move.

"It´s still more than enough," Nick replied, knowing full well what a bullet was capable of. He worked on a case where only one was enough to kill two people.

"Can´t we get to him from behind?" he asked, nervously watching as Kevin moaned, his left hand grasping a handful of hair so tightly that Nick feared he would pull them out.

"There is another corridor some ten yards back, but I am not sure where it leads. It could take us back to the staircase for all I know," Brass spoke, cringing at the noises coming from Kevin. The boy was falling apart and fast.

"No time for that," Grissom dismissed the idea, biting at his lower lip. He really don´t liked to be in this kind of situation. Solving mysteries was one thing - trying to find out the best way to unarm a drugged man was another.

To their apprehension, Kevin didn´t give them the time needed to figure it out. He started backing away, swaying and almost tripping, but still holding the gun.

"What the hell?" Brass frowned, peeking out from the corner Grissom retreated to after the last set of shots. Kevin took several more steps, bumped into the wall and hastily grabbed for something behind him. A second later, Nick could see how the man vanished behind a door.

Without a word, the trio followed closely after, shortly stopping before the door. It was slightly ajar, but dark inside - a fact that didn´t go unnoticed by any one of them. Kevin could´ve been standing right behind the door, or hiding under the table for all they knew. Brass took a breath and looked at Nick and Grissom.

"I'm going in, you two stay here. I mean it," he glared pointedly at Nick. "I don´t want to scare him off, but if he tries to get away through the door, you stop him. Okay?"

"Be careful," Grissom told Brass and the detective slowly slid through the opening, leaving Nick and Grissom in silent expectation.

xxxx

The darkness was a relief, although short. The bright light was hurting his eyes, but the darkness was good. It hid him from the shadows, stopping the cruel laughter. Slowly, Kevin walked further into the room, turning his back on the door. He startled when his hip connected with a table and jumped away, training the gun at the unseen barrier, only to whimper pitifuly when his vision was clouded with pictures of walls splattered in blood, the body of the dead guard suddenly standing just inches from his face.

Kevin shrieked when the guard opened his mouth. No sound came out, because something was blocking the guard´s airway. Kevin didn´t see what it was, the only thing he could see was the red blood flowing freely from the dead man´s mouth. He almost stopped breathing himself when the guard reached up, his hand void of any skin, just bones. For a second Kevin wondered what was keeping the tiny wrist bones together if there was no skins or tendons, but the curiosity gave way to sickness, when the guard pulled something out of his mouth. But this time it wasn´t a hat badge, oh no. This time it was an ID card. The dead man looked at the card with his unseeing eyes and - smiled.

"She´s dead," he slowly articulated, as if speaking was too hard. "And I will kill you, too."

It was all Kevin´s brain could handle He screamed out in rage and emptied his gun, both bullets hitting their mark. He was pushing the trigger again and again, but the cylinder was empty.

"You think you can stop me?" The guard showed him another smile, not minding the two new holes in his body. "You forgot - I am already dead."

"No," Kevin shook his head and threw the gun at the guard, then spun and made a mad dash for the door. He knocked into something, heard the pained grunt, but didn´t stop. The light coming from the door was his only goal and he almost jerked the door off its hinges when he pulled it open. The bright light blinded him, but he didn´t stop.

xxxx

They heard the shooting but none of them knew what to do. Grissom was practically ready to burst in and Nick was right behind. It was the low call coming from inside that stopped them.

"I´m okay, stay outside," Brass said, sounding winded. He had some trouble controlling his breathing, while he idly wondered how was it possible none of the bullets hit him. True, Kevin wasn´t in control and the boy obviously didn´t even aim at Brass, but still... it was too close to the detective's liking.

He heard the ragged breathing coming from across the room, heard the whimper and felt the fear hanging in the air. He briefly contemplated turning on the light. Kevin already emptied the gun and by the sound of the metal hitting the floor, Brass assumed the kid threw the gun away. His hand was already searching for the light switch, when Kevin collided with him. Surprised and thrown off balance, Brass groped for any support, only to find himself flat on his back.

The door was wide open and Kevin was gone.

xxxx

Grissom didn´t have time to react when the door burst open and he was shoved out of the way. He fell, jarring his shoulder on the wall and for a moment, he didn´t know what was going on. His head was fuzzy, shoulder was throbbing and he could see two people running away.

Grissom blinked, then frowned, thinking he must´ve hit his head to see double. But then one of the men jumped and tackled the other with a grunt and Grissom was instantly on his feet.

"This was so stupid," Nick had the fleeting thought, when he landed on top of Kevin, effectively immobilising the rookie, as well as his own breathing. He had the breath knocked out of him, but that wasn´t so much a problem, because the pain that laced through his hand made him stop breathing anyway. For a moment everything went black and Nick hoped for relief, but it didn´t come. The pain didn´t let him "check out" and neither did the man under him. Kevin started squirming and trying to get away. He was succesful in throwing Nick off his back and was about to get to his knees, the haunted look clearly evident in his eyes.

"Kevin," Nick hissed out, finally getting back the function of his lungs. He wanted to calm down the rookie, to stop him from running off, but the cop didn´t hear him. Nick was afraid he would get away again, but then Grissom was there and Kevin was none too gently pushed back to the ground, his hands brought behind his back and skilfully handcuffed, before he could start struggling.

Nick let out a relieved sigh, then winced, cradling his achy hand against his chest, the other one wiping off the beads of sweat running down his neck. As he watched Kevin´s struggle against the handcuffs, he felt his own strength abate, and he had to fight to stay upward and awake. Suddenly nothing seemed more inviting than a soft bed.

Grissom took a moment to examine Kevin as best as he could under the circumstances. He saw the distant look in his eyes, as well as the dilated pupils.

"How is he?" Nick asked, his voice slurred.

"Under the circumstances, he´s lucky. He could´ve killed himself with that gun. Or one of us."

"W-what about the drug? How the hell did he get drugged? I doubt he eat or drank something."

Grissom gave Kevin a last check, then turned to Nick with a frown. Nick was sitting slumped against the wall, his burned hand now resting against the raised knee. Grissom could see the bandage was wet, soaked through. That meant the blisters broke, probably when Nick tackled Kevin.

"How do you feel?"

"´Kay, I guess. Hand hurts like hell."

Grissom nodded and sighed. There wasn´t anything he could do for Nick, only allow him some rest and get him - all of them - out of there. He looked at Kevin who had stopped struggling, now looking almost catatonic. With resolution, Grissom got up. Nick watched him with glassy eyes, feeling too drained to try and move.

"Stay here, I´m going to look forBrass."

Nick frowned, realising the detective should´ve been here.

"Is he okay?"

Grissom shrugged.

"Didn´t see him." With that, he returned to the room Kevin was so in haste to leave. "Jim?" he asked but there was no reply and Grissom felt a shiver run through him. Losing no time, he stepped into the room and located the light switch. But even when the light brightened the room, there was no one here.

"Damn the man," Grissom cursed and quickly returned to Nick, who was practically dozing. Hearing the footsteps, he jerked awake and looked at Grissom with a slightly confused look.

"Brass is gone."

"Was he shot?"

"No, I don´t think so. No traces of blood in the room. My guess is he took off after whoever was doing this."

"That´s not good," Nick commented, then shot a look at Kevin. "You should find him."

"I can´t leave you two alone."

"I can take care of him, Grissom, though we should at least get out of the corridor. The lab should be safe enough."

"I still-"

"Look, I have my gun. And it´s not like we can sit here and wait. Brass may need your help. And we don´t know where is Sara or Jenkins."

Grissom nodded, knowing well enough Nick was right. Without asking, he picked Kevin up. It wasn´t easy and with the handcuffs still on Kevin´s hands, he had no choice but to carry him. With a grunt, Grissom propelled Kevin against his shoulder and carried him to the lab. Despite his doubts, Nick managed to get to his feet and headed after them. He made several steps when he stopped.

Grissom found him like that, staring at something on the floor, one hand leaning against the wall for support.

"Nick?"

"That´s Sara´s ID," he uttered, his voice so soft that Grissom barely heard it. But he saw the card lying on the floor. "It fell out of Kevin´s pocket when you carried him."

Grissom nodded and knelt next to the card, frowning. He could still still the remains of some substance on the surface. It almost looked like wax, but it didn´t had the right structure.

"I think I know how Kevin was drugged." This time Grissom put on his own gloves and inspected the card, before putting it into an evidence bag. "Maybe we could identify the drug in the lab. Once we get out of here."

"Does this mean that Kevin found Sara?"

Grissom looked up from the ID, and saw the fear in Nick´s eyes.

"I rather think that the ID was just another trap."

"But that means that whoever set the trap has Sara."

Grissom gave a silent nod.

"Go, I´ll take care of Kevin," Nick said and Grissom headed off, when Nick added: "Gris - be careful."

"You too."

xxxXXXxxx

He wanted every detail, but as it was, Warrick felt a sickening urge to rush into the building before Collin even breached the subject of his uncle´s plans. Catherine dropped the "good cop" act a while ago and now she couldn´t stop frowning at the boy. Because that was all that Collin was. He was nineteen, although he looked like a fifteen year old. And it made her want to cry to hear the youngish voice speak so calmly about the traps that may cost her friends their lives.

"We need to get in!" she snapped, stopping Collin in the middle of a sentence. He gaped at her with a look of shock on his face.

"Are you nuts! After what I just told you?"

"Because of what you told us. Those people are our friends and you talk about them like characters in some bad video game!" Catherine shook her head, frustrated by her own outburst. But hell - inside was her whole team - her family. And the kid was almost shining when he described the variety of traps his uncle had planned.

Collin would´ve laughed but fear of the big guy still holding the gun and self preservation stopped him from that. Just as well, because Warrick was already contemplating what they would with him, while they went inside.

"Okay. Should we bring him with us?" He nodded at Collin and the boy´s face blanched.

"N-no, you can´t!" he shouted and started scrambling away, but he only ended up pushed against the rock and was none too gently reminded of his status as a prisoner.

"You will do what we tell you," Warrick growled, having had just enough of the whining kid. What was it with him, anyway? One moment he was ready to blow off someone´s head, the other he was afraid to go into the building?

"Do you know where these traps are?"

"N-no, I wasn´t inside. He just told me to take c-care of anyone who came my w-way," Collin stuttered, twitching.

"Warrick, he said something about people coming out. You think Grissom and the others managed to get away?"

"We'll see. Now come on, I won´t drag your sorry ass the whole way." Saying that, Warrick none too gently hauled the youngster to his feet and shoved him toward the building. Collin couldn´t even protest, he had enough to do to keep himself upright, cursing the handcuffs and Warrick for putting them on.

xxxx

"What did you do?" Jenkins asked, frowning at the displays in the control room. They were blank, but the lights in the room were on and he heard a distinct sound of opening locks, at least that was what Sara told him.

"Just added some commands to the computer. It practically reversed all the earlier commands."

"So the doors are open and we can communicate?"

"I'm not sure about the phones. The jammer can be independent on the main computer. But you can try."

While Jenkins tried out his cell phone, Sara leaned over the computer and frowned at the dark screen. She would´ve liked to know what was going on with her friends - it was infuriating not to know, but at least she disabled the cameras not only for her, but for the bad guy too. Maybe now they had a chance.

"Damn it, they´re not working!" Jenkins angrily threw the phone across the room and looked at Sara.

"We should get back and help them."

This time, though, she was the one to shake her head.

"There cold be more traps we know nothing about. Believe me - that man is crazy, but he thought about everything. My guess is - he will either come here-" she pointed at the elevator that brought them up, "or he will stay down and try to get the others. I would bet he stays."

"And that´s supposed to make me calm?"

"No! It´s supposed to make you realize our situation. Communications are down. I think one of us should try to get away from the complex, preferably behind the gate. Our cells still worked there."

"Yeah, and how do you propose to do that? If you didn´t notice, two other people are somewhere outside, probably getting shot at." The hard words cut Sara to the core. Jenkins was right and she felt as if she was slapped. Catherine and Warrick were outside - with the sniper.

"There´s another shooter!"

Jenkins only nodded. He didn´t had time to exchange too much informations with Sara while they were down, but now was as good a time as ever.

"First tell me exactly what you did to the computer."

"I don´t know," Sara replied irritated, not having the time or inclination to get into the details of what she had done.

"That means?"

"It means that if he said the doors were locked, now they´re open. Same goes with the light and practically everything that could be controlled with the computer."

"Traps as well?"

Sara blinked, not sure where it was heading.

"Y-yeah, but-"

"So if say there were a bomb or something..."

Sara´s eyes went wide with the implication. Up until now she didn´t think about the possibility of any explosives. Pushing back the urge to simply leave the building, Sara shook his head.

"I don´t know. But... I don´t think he would use something like that. He seemed pretty intent on getting his point to Brass. I think he would likely want to end it eye to eye."

Jenkins accepted her thoughts, even though he had his doubts. But they didn´t had time for that and he realised that even if there was some bomb, they ddn´t had a chance to find it without some help.

"So... what are we gonna do?"

"Go take a look outside. I'll stay here and guard the elevator."

"I´m sorry, but we can´t split up," Jenkins said resolutly. "Sorry, but the fact is we have only one gun, and neither of us should stay unarmed," he quickly said before Sara could protest. "So either you´re coming with me and we leave the elevator unguarded, or we´re both staying here."

Biting at her lower lip, Sara glanced toward the elevator, then at the blank screens. She doubted the man would try to leave - surely not before he achieved what he came for in the first place. She also knew there was a minimal chance that one of her friends would use the elevator.

"You´re right. We need to go out and try to help Warrick and Cath." If there´s still someone to help, she thought morbidly.

Without a word, Jenkins opened the door and they walked out of the control room.

xxxx

"I really think we should leave him here," Catherine muttered, not at all glad that they were dragging the kid with them into who knew what situation. "It´s enough we have to watch out for his uncle, now we have to watch him, too."

"I know it´s not the best solution, but what if his uncle calls again? I don´t want to tiphim off that something´s wrong with his plans. Not until we know more about the situation. And I am not risking that he will get away. If his uncle givesa damn, we can use him as a bargaining tool." Warrick didn´t even believe he said those words, but truth to be told, he was afraid for his friends. And the dull pain between his shoulders was a good enough reminder that the "kid" wasn´t as harmless as he looked. Warrick still had to push back the urge to whack him for that, but now was definitely not the time nor the place.

Collin for his part was keeping quiet, sensing the anger coming from the other man and having enough sensenot to provoke him. So he obediently followed, and while he cursed that the bullet he fired was stopped by the backpack, he wasn´t about to display his thoughts openly. His luck.

He couldn´t help but falter as they reached the entrance. As Warrick warily touched the door, already knowing about the "traps" Brennan older set, the kid winced. He didn´t anticipate any jolt, but he was sure the door would be locked.

It wasn´t.

xxxx

Sara tensed. Did she just hear something? A quick look at Jenkins and she was sure it wasn´t just her imagination They were in the middle of the lobby, heading for the exit, when they stopped. Someone was coming and by the sound of it, it was more like several someones. Slightly panicking, Jenkins looked around and saw the reception desk. With a nod of his head, he ushered Sara behind it. As they both crouched, suddenly wishing that the lights weren´t so bright, Sara idly realised that they just contaminated the crime scene.

They were practically sitting in the pool of blood, but Jenkins didn´t even notice it, until the coppery smell hit his nose. He cringed and swallowed the rising bile and Sara only prayed he wouldn´t get sick. To his credit, Jenkins only gulped and with a slight nod of his head indicated that he has everything under control. Well, everything related to his body functions, because as it seemed, he had not much control over anything else.

The noises intensified and Sara could discern a nervous mumbling. It was heading right towards them and she wondered how many of the bad guys were out there. She didn´t even allow herself to hope it wasn´t the enemy approaching.

If the puddle of blood she was sitting in was making her fidgety before, now she went deathly still.

The voices grew louder. Someone hushed them, there was a sarcastic reply followed by what Sara could identify as a slap. Then an angry Ouch! and a warning hiss. She frowned, her left elbow slightly nudging Jenkins. He jerked and looked at her with a question.

"What?" he hissed.

"I think I heard a woman. Could be Cath," she replied in equally silent voice. Jenkins only nodded. Maybe the sniper didn´t kill them after all, but he still could´ve captured them. They had to be careful.

With that in mind, Jenkins waited several more seconds, until the noise warned him that someone had entered the lobby. Sara saw his jaw clenching and the knuckles of his hand go white as he gripped the gun. Turning, Jenkins prepared to shoot without warning, expecting to see the two CSIs being led at gunpoint.

Instead he saw the two CSIs pointing their guns at him. To say it was a surprise would be a rather simplifed term.

"Freeze!"

"Police!"

Both Warrick and Jenkins shouted at the same moment, before their brains could accept the reality of what they saw. Then, as if a rock was rolled off his shoulder, Jenkins lowered his gun with a relieved sigh. Warrick did the same, although his actions were much slower - he didn´t immediatelly recognize Jenkins. But Sara´s head popping out from behind the receptionist desk quickly erased all his doubts and he smiled.

"About time you got here," she let out and stood, grimacing at the sucking sound when she stepped out of the blood puddle. She made it as far as three steps before she realised that Catherine and Warrick weren´t alone. She frowned at the kid, who had the grace to look anywhere but at her.

"The sniper?" she uttered in disbelief. Catherine nodded in understanding.

"Are you guys okay? I thought... well, the last I saw of you was Warrick getting shot," Sara sputtered, her eyes scanning both CSIs for injuries. She was relieved to see them in good shape, but her eyes narrowed once she get a better look at the kid. He definitely had something in common with the man that captured her, if nothing else than the reddish tint to his hair and the rather pale skin.

"God, are you hurt?" Catherine gasped as she saw the red painting Sara´s legs.

"What?" Sara looked down and cursed as she realised the blood from the scene ended up on her pants. "Damn, and I liked these," she muttered, then sheepishly smiled. "I´m okay, Cath. Just didn´t watch were I was crouching."

"I'm sure there´s a good story behind it, but... where are the guys?"

Sara´s look darkened.

"In the laboratories two floors underground," she replied and shortly told them what happened.

"So his name is Brennan. And he wants revenge on Brass," Catherine summed up. "But instead of going right after Jim, he targets our team. That´s plain crazy."

"Yeah. Look, I know we should probably contact someone from the outside, but right now... none of the guys have much time. Nick was already hurt and I know Brennan used my ID card as a trap. I wasn´t around long enough to see just who got drugged, but I'm sure one of ours got the short straw." Sara could see the concern on each face, including that of Collin, although he was probably more concerned over his own wellbeing than over those around him.

"Okay, it´s time to make our presence useful," Warrick said grimly. "Jenkins, you´re coming with me. Sara, Cath... you two stay there and guard the kid."

"Now wait just a second, ´Rick,"

"I´m not staying here!" Both women started to protest, but it was Sara who faced the tall CSI without flinching.

"You´ll need me there. I know their last position, and can tell you where to go better than Jenkins. He should stay here with Catherine to guard your sniper and the elevator in case Brennan makes an appearance."

Warrick didn´t like it one bit. He looked at Jenkins, as if waiting for his comfirmation.

"She´s right, sir," Jenkins glumly admitted. "I wouldn't know where to go. But I still can-"

"Cath?" Finally Warrick realised that it wasn´t his call to make and turned to Catherine. She, too, was looking rather grim. Sara was right in some aspects, but it didn´t change her own feelings. She wanted to help, to make sure that her friends were safe. But standing here and arguing wasn´t helping anyone and it was her choice to make. She just hoped it wasn´t the wrong one.

"Go with Sara. Jenkins, show me to the control room."


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta-reader: Sabrina

Jim Brass never believed in evil, he saw too many people doing worse things to their own kin. But he was tempted to say a prayer, if it would stop the things that happened tonight. If it would´ve been just him - Brass could´ve taken it without more than a twitch of his eyes. But it was his colleagues - his friends. And an innocent life was already lost to what - just to get all of them here.

Feeling the fear for his friends changing into a white anger, Brass pulled himself off the floor, where Kevin pushed him in his haste to get out.

He made it as far as the corridor, where he could still hear noises of grunting and Grissom´s voice talking in a hushed tone. He was about to follow them, but after several steps, his back to the lights, he saw there were two shadows on the ground. Brass stopped, dead in his tracks, then slowly turned, the nerve endings across his skin practically screaming a warning. But what was there to do?

He came face to face with a gun.

"Ah, ah, you don´t want to get your friends running here to the sound of shooting now, do you? Drop it." The long forgotten voice drawled warningly, and Brass´ hand with the gun went still, then slowly, he let it fall from his grasp.

"Brennan," he all but spat out the word. Despite the situation, he couldn´t quite get himself to believe that all this was a doing of a cop. It made him sick, to see how low the man fell. "And I thought it was only your brother. Who could´ve said... maybe you were the one all along. They should´ve locked you up, too."

The comment was meant to get some reaction, but all he got was a sneer that made him nervous.

"You know my brother was weak. He should´ve never let you get so close, but he kinda liked you. Never figured out why. Guess he learned his lesson, huh?"

"What, about not killing other cops? Or innocent people?" this time it was Brass who sneered. "Guess you didn´t learn that lesson yourself."

"It´s not like Steve had much time," Brennan said through clenched jaws. "He lived in that hole for ten years. He was so close to being let out on parole, when some stupid thief killed him in a brawl. Do you know how it feels, when your older brother is killed by scum that doesn´t even have the right to breathe the same air as him? When he was so close to getting out!"

Despite his brain´s effort to shut him up, Brass still opened his mouth.

"I am sorry that Steve died in prison. But he killed a good cop, and that couldn´t change."

"Yeah well, it seems like there´s more people to die today. By the way, how´s your young friend doing? Kevin is his name? I think I can still hear him scream. Tsk, tsk, must be bad, that drug. You know they warned me about using it? Said they would give it only to their worst enemies. Think Kevin qualifies enough, huh?" Josh Brennan smiled as he saw the tight set of jaw and the slight tremble of the detective´s hands, indicating the struggle inside the man to try and stay calm.

Brass had to take several deep breaths to stop himself from lashing out, but he knew it wouldn't help for long. Brennan was taunting him, doing a good job of it despite all his efforts to not let the man get to him. Still, the man was standing just out of reach and he would probably be dead before getting his hands around the scum's neck. And then there were his friends, still trying to stop Kevin from killing someone, preferably himself. And Jim knew he couldn´t endanger them anymore.

Brennan watched as the cop before him tried to relax and silently congratulated himself.. How he wanted to see the man sweat, and know he would be the one to end his life. Oh, how sweet a moment.

But then Brass recollected himself and the satisfaction he felt was suddenly gone. The man still wasn´t broken.

"I will kill them, you know that. I will kill each one of them, slowly and painfully, but first, I want to see the pain in your eyes. I want you to realise, that you are the one responsible for their deaths."

He rejoiced in the look of fear that crossed Brass´ face, but then he realised that Kevin´s shouts died off and the corridor was eerily silent. He could´ve ended it right then and there, but it would´ve been too quick, too easy.

"Move. If you don´t want to see them dead right now, move!" he hissed and nodded towards the corridor from which he came. Brass shot a quick look back, then without a word moved. He, too, don´t wanted to finish it there, not where his friends could´ve been caught in the crossfire. No, this was something Jim had to deal with alone and as far away from them as it was possible.

xxxx

"Why are you doing this, Josh?" Brass asked quietly, when they were far enough away not to be heard. He thought they could be heading back to the elevators, but after a while he realised they were going deeper into the complex. It made him only slightly nervous - he felt it was better for everyone involved to be as far away from Brennan as it was possible. Even if it meant he was the one at gunpoint.

"You have to ask?" Brennan stopped, momentarily stunned.

"Yeah, I have to. Why after twenty years, Josh? It´s long enough for you to forget."

Brennan snorted, the sound close to a laugh, but there was no amusement on his face.

"I can´t forget my brother, no more than Collin can forget his father. Damnit, can you imagine what it's like for a kid to grow up with a father in jail? A cop at that? He practically prayed for the moment his father was released-" the anger cut through Brass and he flinched.

"Steve didn´t had a son," he objected.

"Collin was born eight months after you put him in jail!"

Brass nodded, not allowing his feelings to show. He really was sorry for what happened and that the kid had no father, but truth be told, Steve killed a good cop and allowed several dealers to continue their dirty work, without thinking about the consequences. Brass highly doubted that with Collin´s birth Steve would´ve changed.

"Still, twenty years?"

Brennan shook his head, looking almost disgusted by the lack of reaction from Brass.

"I was looking for you, right after Steve died. But then you had nothing," Josh spat and with a sneer added: "nothing that I could´ve taken from you. Your wife left you, your kids turned away from you. Hell, you did half my job anyway. Nothing to take. So I returned home."

The words cut deep into Brass, maybe because they were truthful. At that time, he had nothing but his work. But what changed?

Anticipating the question, though it was never really uttered, Brennan looked at Brass almost with contempt.

"Now I have something I can take from you. And Collin can get his revenge for his father."

"T-the kid is here?" Brass stuttered, his eyes widening. Of course, it should´ve made a sense! He just remembered the description of the second guard and his name. Now he was sure it was false, but the description of a twenty year old guy, who looked rather young, with reddish hair, just fit the image of Collin he had in his mind. Yeah, reddish hair like his father.

"He was the guard," he stated and the smile on Brennan´s face was all the affirmation he ever needed. "You want your revenge, but you use a kid to do it? Just how low did you sink?"

Even before the last word left his lips, Brass saw the fist moving toward his face and he was laying on the ground, flat on his back.

"Enough!" Brennan screamed, the rage getting better of him. He stuck the gun into the detective´s face and Jim felt the cold metal sliding down his cheek, finally settling under his chin, firmly pushing into his neck.

"Collin has the same right for revenge as I do, maybe even bigger! Now you shut your mouth, or I will end it right here and now."

"Do it," Brass hissed out, the pressure on his throat making it a little hard to breath. "Well? You want to kill me, so do it! Then leave!"

"Oh no," Brennan shook his head, the smile on his face widening. "I won´t leave them here. You know, I watched you for almost a year. I know about every damn case you solved, right along with this team of yours. Saw how good you were getting along. And guess what, Jim? I just realised they were your people. Your family, the only one you had left. And finally, I had something I could rob you of. Isn´t this great? After so much time, you gave me the key."

"You won´t kill them, Josh. You´re not capable of that," Brass spoke, but even he knew it sounded lame.

"I think that body in the store room says something else. You know what I told him before I killed him? That he would die because of you. But don´t let it bother you, you´ll join him soon enough."

With that, he dragged the detective to his feet and through another set of corridors.

"Why don´t you just end it now?" Brass asked, but didn´t get an answer. He silently wondered where they were heading. The lights weren´t as bright as before and he was starting to get a bad feeling about it. Maybe the elevators and the staircase weren´t the only way out of the building. As if to prove him right, Brennan paused before a bare wall and for a moment just looked at it. The paint was blue and white and looked rather old. Still, Brass took a startled step back when Brennan pushed at the place where both colors merged, just about shoulder height. Something plopped and the "wall" moved. Not much, but it was enough for Brass to see a crack that allowed him to see behind.

"Open it up," came the command and Jim, out of sheer curiosity, obeyed. The corridor there was dark, but he could already see the steep stairs leading up.

"Secret exit? Wow, I am impressed. Just what were those guys doing here?"

Brennan shrugged, not at all interrested in the usage of the complex. He none too gently nudged Brass in his ribs, and the detective took a few tentavie steps, then stopped. Something about this just didn´t make sense.

"Why are we getting out of the bulding? I thought-"

"My, my, aren´t you a little impatient? Don´t fear, your friends won´t suffer for too much longer. Then you´ll join them. Now, continue," he snapped and waited until Brass started walking again. But he didn´t follow him, instead, he reached for the radio.

Brass turned, surprised when he heard a familiar crackle, but his eyes got much wider upon hearing what Brennan said.

"Collin, get as far away from the building as you can, and make it fast! It´s gonna get hot in here."

But there was no reply and Brennan frowned.

"Collin!" he shouted into the radio and Brass felt a spark of hope. He now knew what Brennan planned. To get out of the building, then blow it up. He had it planned all along. The only reason why Brass wasn´t dead yet was that Brennan´s craving for making him suffer was bigger than his deasire for Jim´s death. But now the tables were turned. If Collin was in the building, and somehow, Brass doubted he was anywhere else, then Brennan couldn´t blow it up. Not if there was anything at all to his feelings for the kid.

"Damn it!" Brennan threw the radio at the detective, hitting him in the shoulder. Brass shrugged it off, feeling only a distant throbbing.

"What now, Josh? You ready to kill your own nephew?"

"He isn´t in the building. I told him to kill the other CSIs then get the hell away. He´s gone, that´s why I can´t contact him," Brennan spoke, his confidence back. "Or he just panicked and ran. Either way, he´s far away from there."

"What if he isn't?" Brass taunted him, seeing that his chance was floating away and desperately grasping at it. "What if, say, Collin didn´t kill the others? What if they caught him and dragged him back to the building? Huh? What then?"

"That´s not possible," Brennan replied, but his facade was cracking. The kid meant the world to him. He should´ve never brought him here, but Collin was a good shooter, already won several contests. And he felt the need to avenge his father. If nothing else, Josh made sure enough that the kid knew just who was responsible for every bad moment in his life. No, if Josh knew one thing, it was the fact that Collin wouldn´t leave.

Brass saw all of this transpiring on Brennan´s face and wondered if he was right. Then he felt almost dizzy when he realised just who those two CSIs were and he hoped that Collin wasn´t as good a shooter as was his father.

xxxx

"Shut up!" Brennan shouted. He was sure that Collin was safe and far away from the complex, but Brass kept planting doubts in his head. The nagging feeling only intensified and Josh found himself unable to continue. Not until he knew for sure that Collin was safe.

But how? For all he knew, Collin was on the surface. Even if he had failed, he wouldn't be taken down to the laboratory. Now he truly cursed the woman who broke his computer and all the monitors. There was no way to find out where everybody was and returning to the lab was a bigger risk than Josh wanted to take. No, they had to get out and once up, he would find Collin.

xxxx

Each step he took was harder to make, each sent a stab of fear through his body. Brass already saw the exit and had to force his legs to move. He knew the closer the surface, the closer was the chance that Brennan would kill him or even worse - blow up the whole building.

He played with the idea of unarming Josh, but the distinct threat of the detonator made him think about it. There was a great possibility that if he attacked Josh now, they would both stumble down the stairs. It usually doesn´t take too much for a detonator to go off, and there were too many stairs to bump into.

"Why did you kill that guard?" Brass spoke up, breaking through Brennan´s own thoughts. For a moment there was silence, then came a weary reply.

"I had to bring you here."

"You didn´t have to kill him. We came anyway. And how did you know it would be me?"

"I specifically asked for you, detective," Brennan replied, a hint of amusement coloring his voice. Brass swore and promised himself he would have a talk with dispatch. They should´ve mentioned the caller was asking for him.

"Still, I didn´t have to come. I was on my way home."

"Yeah," Josh snickered. "As if that stopped you before. You don´t have a home, Brass. Your wife and kids left you. Ring any bells?"

Brass shrugged. He had plenty of years to realise that a wife and family wasn´t for him. He knew that most cops were divorced and alone, and he had long ago come to terms with it. It wasn´t Josh´s taunting that made him angry, but the fact he was so predictable. And he should´ve known that someone was watching him.

"Still, if it wouldn´t have been you, there simply wouldn´t be anything to find."

"Cute," Brass muttered. "And what are you planning to do after this? Go after the judge that sent your brother to the prison? Or will you just track the agents from Internal Affairs who set it all up?"

"The only thing I want to do is to see you die. If that should be the last thing I do, then so be it."

That wasn´t exactly what Brass wanted to hear. Until now, he hoped that if the situation arose, Brennan could be reasonable. But if something scared Brass, it was an opponent who wasn´t afraid of death.

xxxXXXxxx

The darkness was slowly abating, giving way to the first rays of sunshine. Brass was surprised at how much time elapsed from the moment he entered the building and secretly wondered how it was that no one came looking for them. But the cold air hitting his face was sufficient enough to make him more alert. He scanned the surface, searching for any motion. By the looks of it, he wasn´t the only one.

Brennan once again reached for his radio, which he had picked up before forcing Brass out of the building.

"Collin, do you hear me? Where the hell are you, kid?" his voice took on a pleading tone and both he and the detective were surprised to hear the responding crackle.

"Josh? I´m still in the building," came the reply and Brennan caught the tremble in the voice, his eyes narrowing with suspicion.

"Get the hell out, Collin!" he barked, but to his dismay the radio was turned off.

"Collin!" he screamed, then turned all his attention to Brass, and in that moment the detective knew that it was his time. The gun was pointing right at his head and there were no words, only a cold stare.

"I´ll find Collin, and on the way kill all your friends. And you will die, without a chance to know if I succeeded." It sounded like a promise, more than a threat, and Brass realised there was no time like the present to act. Seeing the finger tightening around the trigger, he let himself fall to his knees.

Brennan instinctively fired but the bullet went several inches above the detective´s head. Still, there was nothing stopping him from firing a second or a third bullet and he was about to do so.

"Drop the gun!" sounded in the silence and Brass couldn´t say who was more surprised, him or Brennan, to hear the voice so close. Josh slightly cocked his head and with a smile whispered:

"One of your friends, Jim?"

The night was slipping away and it was light enough to see the figure making his way towards them - slowly and carefully, the gun quite visible in his hands. Brass let out a silent thanks, then showed Brennan his best smile.

Maybe it wasn´t the right thing to do. Something in Brennan´s face changed and Jim saw the determination in the hard eyes.

"I won´t hesitate to shoot. You almost killed one of my man." the statement cut through the air and for a second it looked like Brennan finally understood that it was over. He slightly lowered his gun and Grissom allowed himself the hope that it would truly end here and now, without more injuries.

That was when Brennan gave a feral growl and lunged himself at the closest person - which was Brass. The detective´s eyes got wide, but he didn´t have time to react. The body hit him full force and they both ended up rolling on the ground.

It's hard to take a breath when someone´s hands are clutching at your throat, literally trying to break your neck. Brass could do close to nothing to fight off the attack, mostly because Brennan´ was driven with twenty years of hate. He still kicked and tried to pry the hands off his throat. Brennan was now breathing in his face and Brass could smell the stinking breath. He grimaced and repaid the killing stare with his own.

They rolled, both opponents coated in the damp sand, none of them paying attention to the outer world, struggling - Brass for the chance to take a breath, Brennan to end his act of revenge.

But Brass was losing. He could hear the distant calls of his friend, but everything was getting fuzzy. Black dots invaded his vision and he knew the lack of oxygen would quickly put the fight out of him. So he could only gasp in surprised relief, when his opponent went suddenly slack, the hands clutching his neck falling lifelessly to the ground.

The weight was pushed off of him and Brass started coughing as his lungs got their fill of oxygen. The black dots were starting to abate and he managed to push up his head, only to look at the worried face of Gil Grissom.

"You okay, Jim?" the scientist asked and was more than relieved to hear the quiet reply.

"About damn time," Brass muttered and blinked. "What the hell-?" he looked to his right and saw the still form of Josh Brennan, his hands securely handcuffed behind his back, eyes closed. He couldn´t see if the man was breathing.

"He´s just unconscious," Grissom said, then added: "I knocked him out. I couldn´t shoot when he lunged at you, didn´t want to risk hitting you."

Brass nodded, but couldn´t take his eyes off Brennan.

"Jim?" the silence made Grissom nervous, not that he needed any more stress. He was sure that his pulse was well above average and the migraine finally returned with full force.

"He said there was a bomb in the building. He should have the detonator."

"I already searched him. Couldn´t find anything," Grissom shook his head, but stopped and Brass could see the ´look´, the one he had when something just clicked.

"The radio!" he practically lunged for the thing that was now laying in the sand, silent. Grissom frantically looked over it, but could find nothing wrong about it. Still, the look didn´t fade away and Brass gingerly rose to his knees, taking several deep breaths and willing the world to stop swaying. But he stood and took a few wobbly steps to the place where Grissom crouched, eyeing the radio.

"It could be the radio itself is the trigger."

"How?"

"I figured most frequencies were jammed. If not, you and Kevin would´ve radioed to the station for some backup."

"Yeah, we tried but couldn´t get through. Nor the cells."

"Well, what if one of the frequencies is the trigger?"

Brass blinked, trying to not think about what could´ve happened if Kevin had kept trying to get through to the station. He shook the image of an exploding building off, and looked back at the unmoving form of Josh Brennan.

"Collin is still in the building. But he sounded weird. Think that one of our guys got him?"

Grissom shrugged. He doubted Nick or Kevin were in any condition, but then there was still Sara or Jenkins. Thinking about Sara, he remembered the ID card that was now in his pocket and felt the shiver run down his spine. Was she all right?

Just then the radio came to life. Both men jerked, eyeing the building as if it was about to blow up. But nothing happened, and they turned back to the device, listening.

"J-Josh? W-what´s going on?" a young voice stuttered and Grissom´s eyes narrowed. Brass held out his hand, silently asking for the radio. Grissom gave it to him.

"Collin? This is detective Brass."

"W-where is my uncle?" the startled voice asked.

"He´s under arrest. Where are you?"

"Brass? Are you okay?" the voice definitely didn´t belong to a kid anymore and as Brass looked at Grissom, he saw the corner of his mouth turn up in a smile. He was never happier to hear the voice of Catherine Willows.

Epilogue

For a moment, he doubted inviting all of them to his small apartment was such a good idea. His doubts only increased when he found out he didn´t have enough chairs, but both Warrick and Nick relieved him of this problem when they made themselves comfortable on the thick carpet, leaning against the couch or, in Warrick´s case, against the wall. Kevin also wasn´t taking up too much place, as he was just sheepishly watching the group from the corner of the room, still embarassed by the events, as well as baffled by the invitation.

Brass couldn´t help but grimace as he thought about how he treated the rookie. No wonder he acted startled now. It wasn´t an everyday occurence that a higher ranked officer called you to his home for pizza and beer. And Brass had to smile as he remembered the shocked look on Kevin´s face when he told him. There was no way the rookie could´ve refused the invitation.

"Beer anyone?" Brass asked and heard a murmur of approval. He gave each person a glass with the cold ale, everyone but two. .

"Nick, what about you?" he asked and saw the man in question roll his eyes.

"How about some coke?"

"Kevin?"

"Same for me," the rookie said from the corner.

"Hey, why don´t ya join me here? I could use some moral support from a fellow nondrinker."

"Kevin, are you sure you don't want a beer?" Brass asked.

"Thanks, but I´ve had my share of drugs this week. Don´t need a hangover on top of that," Kevin replied quietly, but he did come out of his corner and slump down next to Nick, who grimaced in complete understanding.

"Sorry."

"Here are your drinks," Brass handed them their cokes and eased himself to a chair. He was glad that Kevin was up and around, for a moment he was scared the kid had lost it. Once help arrived, Kevin was brought straight to the hospital and he was kept under observation until the last traces of the drug vanished from his system. That took almost a day and as he heard, it wasn´t easy on the kid. The drug was potent and kept him in the throes of his nightmare for several more hours. But the doctors finally released him and although he was still pale around the edges, he looked much better.

Grissom also watched the two youngest, his eyes stopping on Nick´s bandaged hand. He couldn´t help the shiver as he remembered how close they came to losing him - or anyone else from his team for that matter.

Nick sipped on his coke, unconsciously rubbing at his chest. When he came out from the shower that morning, he saw the big bruise on his sternum. He knew how close it was for him, even though he didn´t remember much of anything that happened in the complex. Everything was fuzzy and a few moments were totally gone from his memory. Still, he remembered the scared look on Grissom´s face when he came to, and the reaction of Sara and Warrick when they found him and Kevin in the lab. Nick had to admit he had dozed off and his heart almost stopped for the second time when someone turned on the light switch. He scrambled to his feet and blindly turned the gun on the two figures, but the room swayed and he was back on the floor. To his surprise, two pair of hands slowed his fall and in the next seconds he couldn´t breath as Warrick pulled him into a bear hug, closely followed by Sara, who had tears in her eyes. Nick didn´t understood why, but he didn´t care. He was just glad to see Sara alive.

The next hour was a blur as the group met up, the relief upon finding out no one was seriously injured making him giddy. He had a foggy recollection of a ride in the ambulance, then woke up in the hospital, slightly drugged. His hand had become infected and they had to give him antibiotics, thus the reason why he wasn´t drinking a beer now. But Nick didn´t care, the doctor told him that the burns weren´t so serious and that there shouldn´t be any permanent scarring and also no lasting damage from the electrical shock he received. That was all he wanted to hear.

The door bell announced the arrival of the pizza boy and Brass went to open the door. Jenkins and Sara stood at the same moment, when he called for someone to help him with the boxes. They blushed and Grissom´s eyes narrowed. He still didn´t know all the details and he started to wonder just what happened between the two of them. He was watching them for a while now and saw the looks they were throwing at each other.

Catherine caught Grissom´s look and she almost inperceptibly nodded, the smile playing on her lips.

Grissom was truly surprised to find out she and Warrick were in the complex, too, and hearing about their adventure with the sniper, he wondered just how lucky they all were. It seemed more like a miracle that none of them died.

Given the fact that the bomb squad found several packs of C4 across the whole building, each having a detonator triggered by a radio signal, it was truly a miracle they didn´t accidentally blow themselves up, what with Kevin and Jenkins trying several frequencies to call for backup.

Movement and loud voices brought him back to the present and he saw Warrick sniffing at the contents of one box, while Sara peeked into another.

"Did you order some vegetarian pizza? You know I don´t eat meat." No sooner had she spoken than Warrick pushed a box into her hand, looking slightly disgusted.

"Here, I think this is yours. Full of broccoli, olives, mushroom and stuff. Urgh. Where´s the one with the meat?"

Sara gave him an offended look, and looked at Catherine searching for some support.

"Sorry, but I also like some ham on my pizza," Catherine replied with a grin.

"Hey, can I have a slice?" Jenkins asked and Warrick and Nick exchanged a surprised look, that quickly turned into a snort. Jenkins didn´t notice, though, his eyes were only on Sara.

Brass watched the bickering over the pizza, feeling content for the first time in the last few years. He let them enjoy the food, allowing himself a little more time to think about what he wanted to say. Finally, when the last slices of pizza vanished and the second round of drinks was passed out, he took a deep breath.

"Maybe you wonder why I called you all here. I know it´s not something I do often, sorry if it made some of you nervous. But... I felt I owed you all an explanation." He raised his hand, stopping several protests with one move.

"No, please, let me. I know you probably know most of the things, from the interrogations or just from the talk around. But... I want you to know what started all of this. I need to tell you about Josh Brennan, about his brother Steve. About what I did that caused the events three days ago."

This time when he stopped, there was no one trying to speak, only a slight nod from Grissom and an expectant look from the others. And Brass knew that they would listen, because that was what friends do.

THE END


End file.
